Log Horizon: Alien Chronicles Volume 1
by Mahou Shoujo-nin
Summary: Las Boss ends up in Elder Tales along with his friend Shiroe. Problem? Boss isn't from Earth, yet was playing Elder Tales on his world. That makes Boss curious as to what is going on, though fine with never returning home. However, as he assists his Shiroe's group with various things, he begins to realize the big picture that they all might have to face with or go on suffering.
1. Prologue

Edit: Someone reviewed and made me realize the name I chose for my main character caused a bit of confusion with the Log Horizon character Shiroe. With rereading the prologue and chapters, I realized that it is confusing and changed the character's name since I only post the prologue. Before I get complains, the name I am using was what I was originally going to use. So, instead of Spiro, the character's name is now Las Boss. Because of the inconvenience, I am posting Ch.1 to make up for it.

Autonote- Welcome to an experiment I am trying with how a write a fanfiction. I will be actually written this story in volumes. Mainly because I am using a similar set up to the light novel of Log Horizon... And glad I am with seeing how long my 1st Chapter I wrote was and had to split it into 3 chapters. Now, Log Horizon is an anime and light novel I been following since the anime appeared in December and I love it. Now, I will be posting the other two chapters I have currently rewritten out and proofed either in a 1 or 2 week interval until I figure out my time management and other things. Past that, chapters could be posted in a monthly interval. However, I hope you enjoy my story as much as I enjoy reading this... Oh! Almost forgot, there is no OCs in this story. Enjoy figuring who's who. Now, it will have some parts very similar with starting out to the light novel, many due to Log Horizon is one of the stories that uses "info dumping" in a right way as information is a powerful resource in this story. However, this story will often be in the view of characters added into the mix like Las Boss, who is introduced in this chapter.

Disclaimer-I do not own Naruto or Log Horizon. They belong to there respectful owners and this is just fanfiction. If I did own it like the writer of Log Horizon(which as a original work he posted as practice for another novel), then I would be getting an income from this.

* * *

**Volume 1**

**Prologue**

'I hate bloody Triffids.' Las Boss thought, glaring at several of the monstrous plant bulbs with vines slivering to match the flowers they had for heads. Even if he loved plants, seeing flowers with teeth can even make Las Boss think twice of watering it. If a plant is carnivore like a Triffid, your fingers would not be the only thing eaten off your body.

"Boss! Heal the tank!" Las Boss instantly jumped out of the way of the vines, unleashing a nasty gash with his spear which had broke into pieces, like a whip. Spider's Needle and Thread was an Phantasmal-rank drop item from a big raid and reminded Las Boss of the ninja wire he used back at the academy. The only difference was wire stayed in a spool connected to a well crafted spear's bottom and the end had a needle like tip that could easily cut through metal if used just right.

However, it was not the offensive power of item that made it very useful. "Heartbeat Healing!" Las Boss shouted...Well, more like hiss out, his voice barely audible while his body unless waves of green, hitting the Guardian near him who had the attention of the Triffid that had tried to make a snack out of the Druid.

"Thanks, Las!" Naotsugu chimed, swinging his sword down after blocking an attack, killing the Triffid while Las Boss hear the Assassin of the group, Akatsuki, and his best friend, Shiroe, behind him.

'Man. Even with experience, this is tough.' Las Boss thought, nibbling on the whistle in his mouth while taking a look at everyone's HP and his own MP. 'But, then again. I'm not going to complain. Unlike in real life, status screens are a big help.'

The area was Herbary of Small Stone. A small area with a variety of terrain surfaces due to the ancient remains all around. A somewhat difficult area to fight unless you have experience... Though, even that is thrown out the window when your height changes.

"Then again, isn't this too many?" Naotsugu retorted, Las Boss noting the fact they had several Triffids and Briar Weasels all around them. The numbers were higher than before when he last went through the area... But, then again, nothing was like before.

"Their numbers increase whenever Naotsugu cracks a dirty joke." Akatsuki snorted, somewhat smug.

"So it's my fault?!" Las Boss rolled his eyes, watching as a bluish-white arrow hit the Briar Weasels. It was Mind Bolt, one of the few offensive spells of the Enchanter. Weak in attack from even the highest level Enchanter, but if used right, it can still do a good job.

"Icicle Ripper!" Las Boss hissed, unleashing a barrage of ice at the same Briar Weasels, finishing them off. The icon for the spell turned pale with a bar recovering the color going through the bar. Once it was back to full luster, the spell was good to go again. Not that Las Boss had to worry due to plenty of skills he can use.

"Rush them! Akatsuki, attack their left flank! Boss, attack their right flank! Naotsugu attack their front!"

"Roger that!"

"Leave it to me!"

"-Weeeee!-" Las Boss blew into his whistle with a short burst, signaling he got the order. He sped to the side, careful of avoiding the attacks of the two monster breeds. Though Druids are a somewhat balanced class in the Healer, Las Boss's race "Race of Ritual" had horrible HP and defense. Not that Las Boss had to worry with building up his agility and mobility... Though, having three comrades also are just as good, especially if his MP runs out due to the main weakness of the Druid class.

"Haa, let's do it! Shield Smash!" The armored Guardian, Naotsugu, mowed down enemies by sweeping his shield sideways. He was a tall guy with short hair and jolly eyes, a friend of both Shiroe and Las Boss from old times. Though, his class, Guardian, was the classic "Tank" of the 3 Warrior classes, drawing enemies towards them and keeping them attacking them with the greatest defense in Elder Tale, creating the nickname Unbreakable Shield.

"...Too slow!" A young girl with a swallow-like impression dashed through the new gap, cutting down a strange creature that looked like a lumpy ball with glassy fangs. The petite kunoichi was Akatsuki. She really like role playing, calling Shiroe "My Lord" and Las Boss "Sensei", though Las Boss does not see why he was called Sensei.

However, Akatsuki's class of Assasssin was a very resourceful Weapon-based class able to wield one-hit-kill skills and have the highest physical attack among all 12 classes.

"Keen Edge!" The white caped man with beady eyes showed, all three of the other's weapons shining for a moment to show the spell had been cased. The man was Shiroe, who played the Enchanter class. A 100% support with no defensive or offensive capabilities on its own... However, when played right, especially in a party, it can be vital to winning a battle.

"Lightening Fall!" Las Boss hissed, unleashing a massive storm of lightning at the monsters in his area before using his speed and now strengthen spear to finish off all the monster with quick strikes with his spear. All the while watching his MP go up from the Spider's Needle and Thread's MP Absorption ability. A must for a Druid which is an all rounded "Red Mage" who can cast healing, offensive, and support spells at the cost of high MP usage. Though, defensive is bad, especially playing as the most unwanted race for its horrible HP.

Not to say that Herbary of Small Stone was a field-zone of a high difficulty... The monsters that appeared were only Triffids, Briar Weasels, and Venom Moths that were only around Level 50. Las Boss and the other three were all Level 90 Adventurers, technically the highest class of power in the world of the MMORPG Elder Tale. Even if Las Boss or Shiroe's defensive was low, they did not receive much damage with that much of a level gap. Furthermore, although Naotsugu was up against a large number of opponents, even if it was just ten or twenty Triffids, for any of the three, they were opponents of a level where they can be taken care of single-handedly...

'Yet, the current situation is not the same as before.' Las Boss thought, on edge. Till now, the four of them all had carefree looks on their faces, chatting and bickering... Now, Naotsugu, Akatsuki, and Las Boss had serious expressions right now.

Battles were indeed terrifying. Las Boss always heard the old war stories from adults, telling them to their children without realizing he was there. He expected a real fight to indeed be somewhat scary. But, then again, even with such high levels and with magic and skills... Facing a monster is still far more terrifying than expected. However, in order to have a body able to react in such situations, able to properly run around the field, switching from dodging to attack all the while enemies launching attacks of all kinds... One needs combat experience. Las Boss had training... Sure, he often was the class clown and goof off, which he now regrets... However, he still understands the need to dodge and intercept, yet it was so much different with doing it for real in battle... Something all four of them had to overcome.

"Watch your right!"

"I got it!" Naotsugu swiftly looked in the direction that Shiroe warned, swinging his longsword in his right hand. The strike did not do a critical hit, but it did restrict the moments of the Briar Weasel. The weasel extended its green briar, glaring with its crimson eyes as it chirped before pulling back by curling its body into a ball.

'This isn't good.' Las Boss thought, managing look at status while in a gap. The attack that almost hit Naotsugu proved their suspicions. Before, with being at Level 90 attacking a Level 48 monster, there was no possibility of an "Attack Failure."... Now, it was different. It also proves that the cooperation between the two was still insufficient. Despite being Level 90 Adventurers, they were still unable to sufficiently wield their skills to their best abilities yet.

"Nightmare Sphere!" Shiroe shot a dark sphere of magic which went in an arc and landed in the middle of the weasels and plants, exploding. None were badly damaged, but all ended up inflicted a "slow movement" type status. Enchanter may be not a popular class in Elder Tale, but it is definitely a very useful one in parties.

"Burning Bite!" Las Boss attacked the confused creatures with his weapon covered in flames, charging in with Naotsugu and Akatsuki.

"Yeah! I can fight better like this!"

"Same here!"

"Not bad, Shrimp!"

"Don't call me a shrimp, Naotsugu-baka!"

Las Boss smirked at Akatsuki and Naotsugu's antics. Both would easily defeat monsters over and over again as long as they had support and an opportunity. Shiroe provided that with his support magic in the rear and Las Boss helped keep them in the fight with healing and extra front row support. At least, that is what they are trying to figure out with the battle. Seeing a look of understanding in Shiroe's eyes, Las Boss at least knew his pal figured out his role a bit better for rear support.

"Take that!"

"Haa!"

A sharp yell sounded as Naotsugu and Akatsuki did the finishing blows. All of them were seasoned players with tons of experience. As long as there was a will or way, they quickly focused on teamwork. If only that was like back home for Las Boss before he dropped from the academy.

"It's over like that?" Naotsugu swung his one handed sword in a large arc, wiping the blood off his sword before returning it to its sheath. Las Boss noticed Shiroe nodded and canceling his spells. Noticing Shiroe's MP, Las Boss opened one of the draws to the multi-draw case on his back and threw a potion over to Shiroe who nodded in agreement before gulping it down. "We defeated a lot of monsters already."

"There seems to be no more indications of any enemies in the surroundings, maybe it'd be best to stay alert for a while- I'm sorry, but can you three help with the loot?" Shiroe called out while beginning to observe the surroundings. The warning indication in Las Boss's mind changed from red to blue, battle mode was now deactivated. Las Boss collapsed his spear and rolled it like a whip to put on his holster before joining Naotsugu and Akatsuki looping the monsters that had fell. Sadly, nothing really was needed by Las Boss to craft from the said monsters, but they could sell the fur from the weasels. It was one of many survival habits that had been honed the past few weeks. It was fortunate the sun was high in the sky, giving them plenty of light.

However, Las Boss kept an eye on his surrounding while skinning, ready to attack at the moment his ears picked up a sound of trouble. 'Great... I am beginning to turn not just from a shut-in to someone with paranoid?' Las Boss noticed Shiroe sighed, slightly smiling at his friend. 'At least I am not the only negative thinker.' Though Las Boss frowned with looking at his surroundings. 'How can one not think negative with the situation?'

Las Boss looked over his clothes. The shirt under his coat and pants were high quality materials, though only boosted his stats for speed and evasion. The same with his boots, all of which comfortable and breathable. Though, he should know since he made them. Yet, nothing could beat his more treasured items.

His coat was a rare Phantasmal-class cloth robe originally called "Robe of the Vixen," he changed it to "Yandere Robe" after hearing the back-story of it being about a yandere kitsune. It is an AI-type item which changes to fit the user mood, but its stats boost of evasion, agility, and elemental resistance was a major bonus. Down side, it was a bind on equip... And had some issues.

His glasses were also bind on equip, being an Artifact-type item fit for Mage and Healers. Known as Specter's Whistle, the glasses actually gives some skills to the wear other than being just for show, mainly linked to the whistle. It allowed for getting the attention of allies without shouting or texting them, giving them instant notice of an issue. Bonus, it also boosted the time limit of riding beasts.

It was almost as useful as To-Go Atelier or the original name Sage's Workbox which was his back case. It was a Artifact-type item he got with completing a very hard quest. It allowed him to craft anywhere and use more items than normal players in battle including switching weapons mid-battle. It even protected him from the death penalties of losing money and items... At the cost of his sub-class having to stay the title of "Crafting Sage."

However, with all his clothing and gear, he looked nothing like a mage or sage. Sure, more of a real life assassin or mercenary, but not a magic user. Even the marking on his body gave him more of a look of a tattooed bad guy. Not that his height helped in more ways than one. He was just finally getting used to it.

But, then again, after that day where the incident was coined as "The Catastrophe" happened, everything changed for everyone, not just Las Boss and his pals. It was not as cool as the heroic comics made it out to be. But full of sarcasm, muddied, stress-laden, and tough... Basically, another "Reality" but with changes. The "Reality," mentioned, were the monsters they were fighting. It was the reason why both Las Boss and Shiroe was paying attention to any movement around them. It was the ruins that was shrouded in greenery where the teammates who wielded their weapons and skinned their prey.

A cold wind blew through the forest, bring a chill with it along with leaving behind the fear of battle under Las Boss's skin. All of this was the current "Reality" that Las Boss was now living in. His friends and he seemed to have been confined in a world that was supposed to be just a game, Elder Tale. After The Catastrophe happened, everything changed.

'However, as long as we battle, we can earn money and be able to rest in a bed and have food.' Las Boss thought, putting away the skinned and cleaned furs in his case, having far more room in his bag than the others did for theirs. 'Luckily, meeting up with Naotsugu, Akatsuki, and Shiroe was very fortunate for me. If I hadn't, things would probably be a lot worse.' Las Boss held back a sigh, trying to change his gloomy thinking to more positive ones. The scene of the day of The Catastrophe happened flashed in his head, the scene of countless players holing up in Akihabara. Shiroe knew all too well he did not wish to be like them as they fell into the swamp of despair. He almost did so in his own life before all this had happened. Las Boss wiped his hands clean of the blood while recounting the chain of events that happened the day The Catastrophe occurred.

* * *

Endnote: Alright, I will probably post Chapter 1 in a few days or next Saturday. You'll learn more of Las Boss next time and come to probably realize actually who he is... Well, sort of since I am giving you guys some time to try and figure it out on your own since I am not giving it till a few chapter later.


	2. Catastrophe Part 1

Autonote-Heh heh. A reviewer, Liger One, help me realize that using Spiro was not a good idea for a name, especially when the other main character's name is Shiroe. I am glad he pointed that out before I really got rolling. However, luckily, I just went back to the original name I had before using Spiro: Las Boss. To make up for the fix, I am posting Chapter 1 earlier than expected. Well, I hope you all like it.

Disclaimer-I do not own Naruto or Log Horizon. They belong to there respectful owners and this is just fanfiction. If I did own it like the writer of Log Horizon(which as a original work he posted as practice for another novel), then I would be getting an income from this.

* * *

**Volume 1**

**Catastrophe**

**Part 1**

'Huh?' Black instantly turned to white before turning several tones of green and blue with everything became wet with a splash. 'What the hell?!' Panicking, he swam to the surface and instantly took deep breathes with his head breaking the surface to air. Without thinking, he instantly began to swim... But, he could feel it was not right. His arms were not moving like they should, more of a hectic swinging of arms instead of smooth swimming. But, at least it got the job done as his feet reached ground in the water.

"Hack! Gug! Cough!" He coughed while crawling through the shallow and onto moist moss and rocks, expelling the water that got into his lungs during the panic swimming. 'Yesh... My pipes bust again? The landlord's going to be pissed.' He took a moment to get his breath, getting the sick feeling from the fear wearing off.

He had kept his closed his eyes, not wanting to look back at his apartment. He wasn't worried about his work or belongings. He purposely made his computers, monitors, and other tools he needed water-proof and all with how his world is. Everything important that was not waterproof was kept in a safe just in case and the rest was mostly okay with water.

What he was not so happy that his rent was about to go up for the next few months. He had a great land lord who instead of billed you fixes if something happened to one's apartment, just divided it out and rose the rent a little to cover it long term... However, now that his apartment was flooded, electricity would be out for at least a month. He was going to have to rent an office for work and play (and sleep) like he was planning, but ahead of time and with _less_money. Luckily, he got the things to set up to get started and no need for major investments like normal graphic designers, but his academy stipend will only cover him for another year till being cut as he finally dropped out of the academy. He did not want to take money from his main accounts, but may have to now just to cover till he got things fully back on track again.

'Thank goodness I submitted those projects and emailed the clients right before beginning to play the-' He opened his eyes and his thoughts hauled. All around him was buildings with trees and plants all over the place filled his vision as surprise and fear filled him. Now, of course, where he lived was a nature nut's paradise. Trees were as plenty as buildings in his village. In fact, they even limited cutting trees to ensure there is always trees in the village and some even grew on top of buildings.

This was not the village he knew. In his village, all the buildings... Well, they are a mash-up of all sorts of circular and rectangular in shapes, with all sorts of colors and sizes. It was hard to miss someone's place once you saw it as you probably had to go across the village to find another place like it on the outside. It was a great defense as it was hard to memorize such a place unless you lived there for a long time, but a pain when drunk trying to get home. He knew that all too well as he always seemed to run into those overly happy drunks at night who shares their drink with anybody... Sometimes forcibly.

This place... was as he seen on his computer. The buildings were all skyscrapers... Or at least the remains of such as nature was making back her claim. Creatures he only seen in the game were about, either flying as oddly shaped birds or lizards with rock like skin moving amongst the rocks near him. The crisp, slightly moist air that went with the wind and the moist moss against his hands and knees easily proved to him he was not dreaming... He also knew this was not an illusion..Well, maybe, but he did not know how a genjutsu expert could get the details of a world only knew by one person in his village down so well.

'Elder Tales?' He thought, realizing exactly where he was at. He should as he often made concept art for new ads and parts for the game and have played it since he was four. However, the question in his mind was if this world was indeed Elder Tales or one just similar. 'Either way, this is not good... Oh, boy, this definitely is NOT good.'

He noticed his hands and arms. They were huge... At least compared to the size his hands and arms should be. He just turned twelve a few days ago. His arms should be lithe with just a small bit of definition. The same with his hands, not too small to be that of a child's, yet not big like an adults as he was still growing. The hands he was seeing belong to an adult. They looked strong, but not like that of a muscle man or even a professional athlete. More of a normal adult male who was skillful with his hands and even had calluses all over from various tools. However, he also noticed the bluish tone tattoos covering his arms which were either ancient symbols of some lost civilization or odd circuit board drawings.

'I'm Las Boss?' He looked over his body, taking note of his clothing. He attempted to stand and barely managed to keep his balance. Once fully up, he was surprised by the change of perspective. Everything looked so much different from the change of height. Though, the changes he already could tell would be a pain. Lifting up his arm, he could feel the difference. The bend of his elbow was farther down than before. His hand was also farther from his elbow. He could probably still move and such with understanding and focusing on the proper respond, but he did not have the full on muscle memory as someone in an adult body of a height of 190 cm or over 6 foot something as some would say. At least two feet above where his original height was.

'Though, I pity the Dwarf players. At least I am young and can adapt faster. The older players will have a harder time.' Las Boss let out a sigh, carefully taking shaky steps and taking notes of the differences of feeling he now had with his body. He smiled with seeing the body move normally, slowly getting surer steps. 'So, there is some muscle memory. At least I am not coming at this from scratch or else I might not be walking.'

Las Boss walked out of the gully he was in and instantly welcomed the warming sunlight. He realized he was soaking wet and he hoped the sun would at least dry him out before giving him a cold. However, he also now noticed the small stalls all around and also other people in clothing and armor of the "Middle Ages" as he remember the time period the game Elder Tales was based off of... Well, of Earth's time periods. He has no idea what this world's name is, but it could even be the very Theldesia that Elder Tales was set in.

"What the hell?!"

"Get me a GM?!"

"Someone save me!"

Las Boss noticed the terror on the faces of the people while the ones in more casual clothing of the time period looked on with confusion while trying to keep their stalls and lives going. 'So, I am indeed not alone.' Las Boss took a deep breath, staying calm. Then again, with how rough the last two weeks, this was not too overwhelming for him. He moved though, away from sight to avoid trouble.

He already learned the fear of entering the job force earlier than expected. And, unlike normal people of his "field" he was just using to pay off his subscription for Elder Tales, he had NO job market as his job did not exist where he lived. His village's technology was like that in the late 1800s to early 1900s for major countries of Earth. They had electricity, but it was limited to where it was able to be produced. They had televisions, radios, and so on, but they were nothing like his hand built computer he made literally from scratch and the software he gained through trading his services online for them. Worse, he was not well liked by the villagers for other reasons. Thankfully, his village had a good trading flow and the foreigners who came to sell their products were quite happy to get advertisement for their business... Especially at the speed he was able to make flyers and even multipart signs. Add the fact some he already had business relationships for where his main job experience comes from, it wasn't hard to help them for money. His slowly starting base business was not earning a lot since he was still getting the pricing right as the advice online was for different currencies... But, he was also beginning to get villagers who wanted in as well.

'Makes me feel really horrible as I worked so hard at the academy and never got any headway with changing how people see me... Yet, begin a brand new business and I gotten at least villagers recognizing my existence.' Las Boss rubbed his head, trying to keep the headache back. He could look back on his life whenever he wanted till his heart stopped. Now, he had to focus and figure out what was going on.

He recognized the city he was in. It was Akiba, the main starter city of the Japanese server. This included his area, though he was the only one from his area. Though, that was going to change... Or was with the current situation.

With thinking back, he just completed some of the projects and sent off through the web was concept art for new items and such for Elder Tales that could appeal for the audiences of his area as they would be put in the patch that would be done later. However, after submitting the email with attachments, he got his computers going to play Elder Tales. The new expansion pack came out and having work part-time GM, now sort of freelancer GM and designer, he had the bonus of getting it early and downloaded it to play till it fully activated at midnight Japanese time. It was earlier in the afternoon for his "time zone" if he remembers correctly. While getting his main account up and running, he got a message from his friend to meet up and help him teach some beginners the basics of crafting and such. So, instead of logging his other characters in to play a full "solo-party," he just left the others at the character selection and focused on his main account Las Boss and just met with his friend... Then some kind of video like sequence played, yet Las Boss knew it was not part of the game. Shining flame-like words appearing on a black screen, the sky falling away from him and a darkness-like sticky asphalt with a bright moon flying through the darkness... Then the next instant, he was here.

Here being at least either a world similar to or the exact Elder Tales he knew. Elder Tales was a 20 year old MMORPG that was running strong from its good points for both old and new players, constantly updated to stay new while keeping the good stuff from older editions. In fact, today was the release of the 12th expansion pack of the game and the game has 20,000,000 players on Earth, with over 100, 000 in Japan. Las Boss even put a lot of time in the game, even though just being twelve. He was even a GM, a game master, though mainly only made so due to working on the design stuff. But, then again, being an orphan kind of helps to allow someone at age four get on such a game and it had been his release from stress as well as other things. It was a world where magic existed in a post-apocalyptic world and fighting monsters and crafting items were common accordance. At least, it was till now.

'I need to collect information.' Las Boss looked up at the sky, slightly towards his forehead and was surprised by the sudden appearance of screens akin to what he seen on his monitor. Status screens and such, even his Friend's list and such. He touched the log out button and smirked at seeing it show a red circle with a line through it. 'Well, at least this narrowed my question. This is indeed Elder Tale's world... However, the question is now is this the exact world of Elder Tales as a game or did it exist beforehand?' Las Boss thought before a xylophone played in his ears and seeing a menu showing a name and information: Shiroe, Lv 90 Enhancter, No guild.

'As expected with Shiroe.' Las Boss instantly touched the screen for it to open up.

"Hello? Las Boss?" The voice Las Boss knew quite well came out of thin air. Excitement filled Las Boss, mainly due to how bad his internet connection was when Elder Tale was a game. Due to that, he never could use voice chat though he was close to it with constantly improving his computers. He was always forced to use text to communicate. Now, he finally had a chance to speak with his best friend and pen pal for the first time.

"Hess, ito..." Las Boss moved his lips, as if speaking like he normally did. However, instead of the words in his mind 'Yes, Shiroe' came out of his mouth, only barely audible sounds came out. "At e l?" He spoke again, only confirming his suspicious with his throat suddenly burning in pain. 'Well, that's life for you. Give you a small bit of good and then dumps a boat load of crud the next moment.' Las Boss sighed, just putting it assign on his list of "Deal with it"... Which was quite long.

"Las Boss? Are you alright?!" Las Boss snapped back to reality and looked at his screens carefully. He frowned with seeing there was no longer a text box. So, his old means of communication was out...Well for now. "Las Boss... Cough once for yes. Cough twice for no. Cough three times if you need to say something. Understand?"

'He must think I am in a bad situation.' Las Boss sighed before coughing once.

"Are you in trouble?"

Two coughs.

"Are you okay?"

One cough.

"Can you tell me where you are at?"

Two coughs.

"Is it because you are in trouble?"

Another two coughs.

"Can you move?"

One cough.

"Can you talk?"

Two cough. Though Las Boss rubbed his throat as it was getting sore. Not that he did mind. He just had to figure something else before he developed a permanent cough.

"Alright. Find somewhere to stay and I will find you. I will also have Naotsugu meet you as well."

Las Boss coughed, understanding what Las Boss was doing. 'Always better to be in numbers than be alone at a time like this.' He heard the click of the voice chat ending and noticed an abandoned building nearby which he remembered well. 'I would prefer to collect information... But, then again, I need to dry off completely still.' Las Boss thought, seeing he was still quite wet even with being out in the direct sunlight. Unlike the people shouting in terror and confusion around him, he was actually somewhat relieved of his position. For once, he would be with real friends... Instead of truly being all alone.

His thoughts were interrupted by a tug to his coat and Las Boss looked down at a kid. "Um... Las Boss the Santa?" With a face of annoyance of the... er... title, Las Boss nodded. Though, he noticed the tone of the kid was that of an adult. "Do... you have an appearance changing potion?"

'Now that I think of it, I do.' Las Boss nodded, smiling at the thought of the fact he could change his body back to his original size. He could possibly get his voice back if he returned to his normal size.

"Can I buy it from you?!" Las Boss blinked, looking at the child. "P-Please! I can barely move and don't want to be a child again!" Las Boss froze as the child eyes watered.

'Must resist! Must resist! I need that potion!' Las Boss thought, reaching to his back chest and getting out the bottle to use it himself. All the while trying to avoid the puppy dog eyes. "N-"

"Thanks!" Las Boss blinked to find the bottle out of his hand and the child drinking it while running.

"I nd te!" Las Boss shouted, only to grip his throat in pain and looking up to find the child gone. "De me" Las Boss groaned, though seeing a bag on the ground. He picked it up to see it was filled with gold coins. "..." 'That's only a portion of what an appearance potion went for in the game and now it worth much more because of the situation!' Las Boss has a vein popped up on his forehead while his face turned red before sighing and taking a deep break. 'Well, better to not curse over spilled milk. After meeting Shiroe, I will hit the market as someone is going to probably off one for a lot and I can buy it.' Las Boss walked towards the building, though his shoulders down in defeat with what happened.

* * *

End Note:Alright. Here's chapter 1. Again, sorry for posting the prologue with Spiro and not realizing how it could becoming confusing. I am just glad I caught it before next chapter.


	3. Catastrophe Part 2

Authornote- Thanks again, Liger One, for pointing out some mistakes I made. That's what I get for trying to do the quick fix while multi-tasking with getting back what I needed for my freelance gig I was working on. Though, rather it be the fan-fiction(where I can correct it later one) to have the mistake than my work. I fixed the few names I missed. However, Liger One mentioned something which I wanted to give a heads up on. I am following the light novel's structure of Log Horizon, but dividing the chapters out in parts similar or close to how it is done for the breaks in each chapter. Main reason for these parts can easily be individual chapters and also to give those who haven't watched or read Log Horizon a breather as some of the chapters will have a lot of "info-dumping" which is kind of important as Log Hoirzon is about really living in an MMORPG and dealing with how to survive in such a place. Because of this, some chapters might be short like chapter 1, but others will be longer when two parts can easily be combined. I wanted to try out this style as it might work better for me to keep up with and it seemed to flow better than have one chapter with over 20,000 words.

Now I hope you all enjoy this chapter. The point of view for each chapter will change. Sometimes it will be Las Boss, sometimes it will be someone else. This is how Log Horizon is done and I will be keeping with it though Las Boss will be the usual person of the point of view for most of this Volume and next Volume. Also, Persona: Parellel Paradox's next chapter is done and I am current getting it proofread, so it should be up by the end of this week or beginning next week. After Chapter 6 is posted, my updating for that story will slow down along with this one after Part 3 for Catastrophe is put up. I got to get a routine going for my freelancing life so that I can make a living. If I can't make a living, I can make fanfiction as a hobby.

Disclaimer-I do not own Naruto or Log Horizon. They belong to there respectful owners and this is just fanfiction. If I did own it like the writer of Log Horizon(which as a original work he posted as practice for another novel), then I would be getting an income from this.

* * *

**Volume 1**

**Catastrophe**

** Part 2**

Naotsugu looked pale, but he still laughed heartily and slapped his sheath. His height was a bit more than 180cm with a strong body, wearing a dull yet horribly strong steel armor. Naotsugu had a shield on his back and looked like an ancient hero warrior in his get up. "Hi Shiroe!"

"Naotsugu, eh... Good morning?" Shiroe didn't know how to react when he heard Naotsugu's greeting, and fell back on this plain cold greeting. Due to Elder Tale's voice chat system. Shiroe remembered and was very familiar with Naotsugu's voice...Naotsugu... If anyone asked Shiroe who was the most reliable person in the game, he would be among the first few choices that came into mind.

Elder was an MMORPG, or a role playing game with many players that connect to the game to play. The huge pool of players in the same game place allowed many different people to know one another, to work together or complete with each other. Shiroe had played Elder Tales for many long years, so he knew a lot of people in the game. But the people you know in the game remained in the game. Different people might have different playing styles and opinions, but most people would not reveal their real identity in the game world. With the increase in online crimes after the year 2000, protecting your personal data was common sense for the online community. But that didn't mean you couldn't make real friends.

Naotsugu knew Shiroe's real name... meaning Shiroe gave him his contact details and was one of the few players that had met with him offline as well. Shiroe let out a sigh of relief when he heard Naotsugu's voice. They might have met in person before, but they had spent much more time conversing through the game screen. Naotsugu spent countless nights with Shiroe in the Debauchery Tea Party, visiting countless border zones, experiencing countless battles together, he was one of the players in Elder Tales Shiroe was great friends with.

They had chatted about so many things under the skies. They even discussed their boring feelings, not like a friend he only met in a game at all. For Shiroe, this cheerful and reliable voice was the symbol of Naotsugu.

"What is this situation? Did Elder Tales evolve to this level while I wasn't playing? To be honest, this is too real for me, this is not possible with just improving the level of particle effects and rendering machines right? Is this a joke?" Naotsugu pouts as he asked Shiroe. His cheerful and chatty voice sounded a bit depressed. "This is nerve wrecking."

Shiroe vaguely nodded and raised the magic staff in his hand. 'Come on, this is a magic staff, magic staff.' This was a commonly seen item in fantasy games and was about Shiroe's shoulder in height. This was made by grinding and bending a long and slender tree branch and reinforcing with metal... just like a magic staff used by mages. The only place you could find this was in a role playing store.

He probably noticed Shiroe's silent reproach. Naotsugu bent his head to check himself out. Naotsugu was wearing steel armor that seemed to weigh dozens of kilograms, he had a shield on his back and a sword with an elegant hilt on his waist. Naotsugu's appearance looked like a warrior in a fantasy setting.

"Eh, I look like a role player myself."

"That's right." Even though it was not sounds of joy, the two of them looked at each other and laughed. However, the sound of metal hitting asphalt got their attention. They were met with a pair of annoyed eyes from their silent companion. Who happened to be sitting near them with slightly damp clothing.

Shiroe recognized the character as Las Boss, a pen pal friend of his before they both began playing Elder Tales. Also, a GM who was well known among players for various means. The towering man was wearing a sleeveless robe tone black with orange trim with hood, which covered the white hair of his character. He also wore pants and boots in similar colors to the robe. However, he looked much more like an assassin or mercenary than what he really was. Add the odd traveling rack on his back and one would think he was one of those warriors of legends who was skilled in many weapons. His sour face only strengthen the image of an imposing figure, akin to the bad guy who took care of the dirty business.

"Sorry, Las Boss... Can you speak at all?"

"H an u ll is spking?" A raspy wisp was all that came from the man's mouth, barely audible at all. He rubbed his throat, showing discomfort. He used the tip of his spear to write on the ground. -My character's body and my own does not match. My best guess is due to height boost, my throat did not catch up.-

"I see... I remember you telling me Las Boss was based off what you wanted to be like when you grew up..." Naotsugu sheepishly said, both knowing the character Las Boss was in was indeed not something out of selfish desires like many players. "Though, it's kind of sad that after two years of being gone, the time you have a chance to meet me live in person, your voice is gone."

-Yes. Quite splendid.- Shiroe noted the sarcasm. It was one of the only ways he could confirm Las Boss to be who he was. Las Boss was one of the people who used the text system, though not because he wanted to. He didn't have a proper mic to use and his internet was not good to begin with. Shiroe remembered Las Boss once explaining the specs on his computers he used to make up for the bad connection... If he had even just had normal internet, he would be a monster on the MMORPG floor. Not that it matter since he was a GM, so he was allowed to hack once in a while the game for fun. However, it was even more amazing if what he was told was the truth and built those computers all from scratch including the microchips.

Though Shiroe only knew on the personal level little of Las Boss, Las Boss was a very good friend who has been with him through the game and online through chatrooms and such. Las Boss was a good artist, he knew from seeing Las Boss's art accounts to show off work he had done, mainly for Elder Tales.

-Though you guys look different from your characters.- Las Boss tapped his staff before pointed his free hand at them.

"Now that you mention you... look the same."

"You too." The two of them observed each other's appearance. Shiroe and Naotsugu were basically game characters in Elder Tales, the same for Las Boss. 3D models were a far cry from the real world bodies. But the two of them existed for real in this world, everything was as detailed as reality. But if you looked closely, this was not turning the game into reality.

As a game, the characters of Elder Tales were designed for both male and female. Since it's a monthly subscription game, there were very few players who intentionally choose ugly appearances. To meet the demand of the players, the market would use beautiful 3D models. But Naotsugu was not just turning his stylish character in Elder Tales into reality. Shiroe had seen him in real life several times, and he looked exactly like Shiroe remembered. "Naotsugu, your face looks very similar to your real face alright?" That scar that ran through his brow for his game character was gone, Naotsugu's face had his own bright eyes and the corner of his eyes were slightly drooping. His adult face has a boyish grin on his lips.

"You too Shiroe, scholarly man with glasses and nasty beady eyes." There were friends who described Shiroe this way, and his features seemed to be reflected on this body. As Shiroe thought about this, he gave this standard answer he used countless times: "Can you just ignore that?"

"What is the current situation? Tell me if you know anything, 'Black Heart Glasses'."

"I personally want to tell you, but I don't know anything."

Shiroe and Naotsugu kicked away the shattered debris and sat down along side Las Boss. Shiroe didn't have any information to explain the current situation. Compared to the suburban area Shiroe woke up in, this was closer to the center of Akiba. If you listened carefully, you could hear the buzz of the city from here.

"Firstly, this is not a dream."

"Yeah." Shiroe nodded and agreed to Naotsugu's inquiry. When he regained conscious, he was in a familiar place... that doesn't exist in the real world, which seemed like the game he was playing. Elder Tales was a fantasy game with the world of sword and sorcery as its backdrop. Players could create their characters, Adventurers, and travel through the world from their characters view. The body that Shiroe was controlling like his own, was a character he controlled in the game 'Shiroe'. But the appearance of this character seemed to reflect the real face of Shiroe. Shiroe noticed that Las Boss's face had changed like Naotsugu's. His eyes were now a bit younger, but stretched a bit length wise to probably try to keep with the age of the character. His face also seemed a little younger, but not much due to his older character. However, the tattoos on his face had changed, now giving the appearance of a half circle with a line in the middle on each side of his cheeks instead of the normal circuit like magic tattoos it had before. 'Maybe he had scaring or something on his cheeks, hence the tattoos tried to mimic or cover that?'

"Have you seen the status screen?"

"I have." Since Elder Tales was a game, the strength, stamina and all sorts of abilities were represented in the form of numbers. All sorts of commands in the game were input through the menu. There were no such game related screens anywhere you looked in this world. If you focused on your forehead region, the world would present a translucent status screen indicating all sorts of values and graphs. By controlling the cursor with your mind, you could perform all sorts of action. The three of them realized this about half an hour after waking up. And they discovered the telepathy of the chat system. This was a function to contact your friends that were online in the game. In the Elder Tales world, this function was similar to a cell phone, allowing players to contact their friends from far away... Though the drawback was the text system was gone as Las Boss proved as well as they could only contact people registered on their friend list. Though the telepathy function was more of a cell phone, requiring speaking with so far they learned.

Focusing on their forehead and browsing their friend list desperately with rusty controls, Shiroe was shocked and shouted when he discovered that Naotsugu was online. Naotsugu was surprised when Shiroe contacted him through telepathy, but he quickly agreed to meet up at the ruins nearby when Shiroe explained the situation involving Las Boss.

"..." The silence hung between them as both of them thought about what to say. But the answer was obvious, Shiroe had a better grasp of the situation than Naotsugu. From what Shiroe knows, Naotsugu hadn't logged into Elder Tales in the past 2 years.

"Cough." Both looked at Las Boss who then taped his spear to the ground again, showing a message. -What I best know is this is in fact the world of Elder Tales. If it is just a world based off of the game or the real deal, I have no answer... However, I at least know these bodies existed to some extent before we appeared here. The reason being we still have muscle memory. Even if your height has changed, you can still move with some practice. Without it, we would not be able to move hardly at all.-

Both nodded, understanding what Las Boss meant. They noticed it as well. Even though the bodies they were in where the character's they made minus now their faces on said characters, it still felt somewhat like their own. Seeing how Las Boss shared what he knew, Shiroe told Naotsugu and Las Boss everything he knew. Even though it was everything, he didn't talk about much.

If it was about things that happened when Naotsugu wasn't around for 2 years, they could talk all day. But the reason and background of why they were involved in this perplexing event, Shiroe had no clue. What he could confirm was this: He installed the expansion pack 'Novasphere Pioneers'. Shiroe was playing with beginners just outside of the city when this incident happened. This looked the same as Elder Tales starting point Akiba, and they seem to be in the game world. They have the same body as their characters and retained all the items and equipment they had in the game.

'Now that I think about it, how are the twins doing? I need to check on them later.' But Shiroe didn't know why this was happening. As Shiroe narrated, Naotsugu and Las Boss listened carefully. When unfamiliar terms popped up Naotsugu would ask about them, but he didn't interject with his own opinions. Las Boss could not speak, but that did not keep him from listening. His eyes never leaving Shiroe, yet Shiroe noticed that even with Las Boss's now younger appearance, his eyes and air gave him a level of maturity of a old man who has been though much. It reinforced the look of a guy you did not want to mess with, but not like the "beady" eye look he had. It was more of the "I been through enough crap, try me" look he seen some rough characters on the streets when going to the convenience store near dark.

Shiroe was not a fan of noise when it came to conversing be it for friendly banter. He was fine with lively and festive atmospheres, but he disliked chaotic hustle and bustle. Naotsugu was cheerful and mischievous, but he was smart enough to listen to others. Las Boss... Well, he was fifty-fifty. When it came to business and needing to be serious, he would listen to every word and seemingly ingrain it into his memory... Even remembering details the speaker would even forget. If the situation was not business or serious, he was ditzy at best with his attention spread out and often missing full sentences due to his attention span. But, then again, he was one of the rare people know to be able to play multiple character accounts at once... Having once done a high rank quest with his three highest level characters by himself. He also had others, though mostly under level 30 . He was also seen as a busy body as he also sometimes multitask and worked while playing the game hence often going into jargon many would not understand minus Shiroe since he knew some of the programs Las Boss worked with. However, even though their characters differed but they hit it off well, maybe the trio had the generosity to compromise with each other.

"I see, eh, alternate world... an alternate world has sucked us in, fantasy has become reality..."

"So Naotsugu, why are you here? Making a comeback?"

Naotsugu replied: "Yeah, I heard about the new expansion pack, and things at work was calming down so I logged in to take a look..." ...Come back.

'So Naotsugu was coming back. So Naotsugu was planning on coming back...' Shiroe thought. He recalled that Naotsugu was 2 years his senior. Shiroe met Naotsugu 4 years ago alongside Las Boss. Shiroe was already a veteran player in Elder Tales then. It was normal for a middle school student to play with computers in that era, but Shiroe was one of the few homely type. Put simply, even if he went out, his heart was still at home... A kid who was still lonely in the crowd. From his emails from Las Boss, Las Boss was the same but for different reasons which only Shiroe knew only a bit of. That was mainly due to Las Boss did not like talking about his life and used the game as his release from stress his life gave.

Even after moving on to high school and college, he maintained this form of entertainment, touring the virtual world every day, often times with Las Boss. Elder Tales already has a special place among online games back then. If you wanted to play a challenging game with incredible content, it had to be Elder Tales, this was the view of the game amongst the players. For instance, Elder Tales had a grand vision, the 'half gaia project'. It might sound ridiculous, but the goal of the project was to recreate earth at half its scale which had not been reached. The starting city for Japanese server was Akiba, corresponding to Tokyo in the Japan archipelago. North American servers had the 'Big Apple' and 'South Angel' as starting cities. Japan and American servers were just convenient names to refer to. The online world was made up of many different servers connected to each other, so it was theoretically possible to head for other continents or even the end of the world. Hence, one of the selling point of Elder Tales was the ability of players to travel to other servers, something normal MMO could not emulate. The half gaia project was a long term goal, the current gaia was not a perfect rendition of the real world...

In Elder Tales, the world was divided into many zones, each with its own territory and boundaries. Like the vast sea of trees in Mount Fuji was a zone where ferocious monsters lurked, the dungeon Shinshuku metro complex was a stage for adventure and Akiba city was a non-combat zone. Going deeper, a room in a hotel was also a small room. Some zones could be traded, if you accumulated enough in-game coins, you could be a land or home owner. All zones were connected in their own ways. Open plains for example didn't have boundary demarcation, so players wouldn't be able to tell which zone they were actually in. When they moved across zones, they wouldn't even notice. Some zones had obvious demarcations. Like some buildings and rooms were individual zones that were connected elsewhere through a door. From what Shiroe knew, the Japanese server was managing tens of thousands of zones. With a scale like this, the developing company had to outsource to other major gaming companies, and knowledgeable veteran players like Shiroe were convenient reliable existences. Las Boss even knew more since he worked with the main company as a concept artist part time, though now full time recently from what Las Boss messaged him.

Shiroe had been invited by many guilds during his long tenure in the game, and had joined a guild temporarily thinking of it as a trial. Guilds were the most common way for players to form a group in Elder Tales. After entering a guild, players could access the guild account in the bank and use the guild warehouse to manage their equipment easily as well as other convenient services. The guild members keep in touch with each other so it's easy to form raid parties. So most players in Elder Tales joined a guild since it was convenient and had many benefits. Since Shiroe liked to research the game contents, even getting news from foreign servers, his knowledge was better than other players that had the same years of experience. From this perspective, Shiroe was someone who could contributed greatly to whichever guild he joined. Las Boss would be the same, though more for his knowledge on items and where to get them. However, Las Boss never join a guild like Shiroe.

No player could grasp the details of all the zones perfectly, Shiroe was also not a genius of that level. But things like main routes, the connection between zones, the transport device known as the fairy rings, knowing these could shorten your transportation time greatly. What you can buy at which zone or where you can hunt for a specific monster, this knowledge needed to be accumulated slowly over time. Countless zones, endless varieties of items and monsters, missions known as quests, all kinds of ancient lore and knowledge... including anything else the developers could think of, the culmination of all these was Elder Tales.

But Shiroe could not get used to relationships that included elements of convenience and benefits. He had mellowed out now, but the Shiroe back then was much more stubborn and naive... And was an embarrassing neat freak. Even if Shiroe didn't make requests of others much, he didn't know how to decline others. He didn't decline but his feelings didn't accept it either. There were all sorts of people in the game world. As long as there were people, there would be both pure and impure relationships. For Shiroe who was in middle school then, this might have been too shocking for him.

Shiroe noticed that he was being used like a walking encyclopedia, along with his high level character, he was dragged around like an all-purpose tool to fight for the convenience of others. Shiroe couldn't adjust to this type of relationship or reject them tactfully, so he choose to leave the guild and mingle with others in temporary raid parties by himself. Before Shiroe realized it, he had become a famous solo player with both deep knowledge and high level characters. As Shiroe's fame grows, he fell deeper into solitude. His only relief from said solitude was Las Boss, who never joined a guild for the simple reason of "trust issues." Las Boss also grew in fame for other reasons, but they still had each other to go to if the other became too lonely.

Naotsugu met Shiroe and Las Boss when both was starting to get stronger and traveling alone or the two partnering up on occasion with having given up on guilds. Shiroe was starting to grow numb to the feeling of solitude between when Las Boss and him teamed up. Shiroe, Las Boss, and Naotsugu met in the Debauchery Tea Party. Debauchery Tea Party was not a guild. Debauchery Tea Party was just the Debauchery Tea Party, there was no other way to describe it. It was just a group of players who 'just' happened to congregate there. Even though they 'just' happened to be there, but there were 'always' there and 'ready' to go... That's the place Shiroe belonged to. Same with Las Boss who actually was able to open just slightly to the group.

The guilds they joined were different. Their characters were not the same. They had nothing in common. They just gathered in the ruined building. Some times in the plains, other times on the hills where you could see the stars. This group went on adventures. Elder Tales was a sword and sorcery style fantasy world, set thousands of years into the future. This was the setting the players bought into.

According to the legend of Elder Tales, there was a massive war on earth, shattering the old world... And reconstructed by the gods miraculously into this one. This was a common mythical setting seen in fantasy games. Orcs, goblins, trolls, giants, chimera and hydra, these common mythical monsters roamed the lands. Most players found joy in battling. Gaining EXP and leveling up after defeating monsters, looting powerful and rare treasures, this was the common way to play Elder Tales. But this was just grinding and farming, not real adventures. Repeatedly fighting and adventures were different things, Shiroe learned this for the first time in the Debauchery Tea Party. And he could always see 'her' in the Debauchery Tea Party, as well as companions who were helping 'her'. Shiroe was also a companion there too. The people Shiroe met in the Debauchery Tea Party might be the first friends he met in Elder Tales. Naotsugu was one of them. Las Boss was the exception as they were friends before even joining the party.

"Since you were coming back, that means your job was stabilizing?"

"Yeah, it is more or less stable. Aye, this has been a hectic year."

-You can say the same for me, though for the last few weeks.- Las Boss wrote, making the Shiroe and Naotsugu wonder what their friend has been through.

Debauchery Tea Party went on for 2 years, which was the most fulfilling and joyful period in Shiroe's time in Elder Tales. But after some incidents, the Debauchery Tea Party which created many legends came to an end. One of the reasons was Naotsugu taking a break away from the game. During the winter of that year, Naotsugu wasn't able to go online for a period of time because of his busy work schedule. Several people also left the game at that point due to personal reasons.

The Debauchery Tea Party was not a guild. Since it was not a guild, they did not have any obligatory relationships. Although everyone was all grown up and wouldn't say it due to embarrassment, but this group... treasured their friendship very much. It was not decided by anyone, the Debauchery Tea Party just went on a indefinite hiatus. They thought about inviting new friends to carry on the congregation, but that would be a different adventure and story. Although the Debauchery Tea Party ceasing to function made them sad, no one hung their head in regret. They enjoyed many more adventures than most people, that was reward enough.

"Work was finally on track and going sort of smoothly right now. What really sucks was that there are no cute girls there."

"That doesn't matter right?" Shiroe brushes off Naotsugu's complaints. Naotsugu could be described as a 'hero'. Shiroe thought Naotsugu has more courage than him. It might be recklessness in some situations, but Shiroe had never seen Naotsugu stop being a chatterbox no matter what happened.

"What's with your eyes? Closet pervert look?"

"I'm not a closet anything."

"Yes you are. There are 2 type of men in this world, open perverts who admit it and closet pervert who don't. I am an open pervert who likes panties, Shiroe is a closet pervert who definitely like panties." The ridiculous theory made Shiroe pout. But Shiroe wasn't angry. Naotsugu had always been sensitive about others and his words were meant to lighten the mood. Even if his dirty jokes might trouble others; Shiroe was a healthy man, so he was also interested in the opposite sex. He knew that he could take this level of joke and conversation.

"I also like... Ah, although I like girls, but I still have standards."

"I know personality is important, but you can still be attracted by their appearances."

"... You might be right, but we don't need to stoop so low right?"

"Yeah." Naotsugu gave a big sigh. Shiroe nodded, he understood Naotsugu's point. Las Boss tapped his spear again.

-I don't get this pervert business. All I know it is easy to distract them as I used that low blow against people. Not that doesn't matter anymore since I quit the academy.- Shiroe raised an eyebrow, now noticing how Las Boss was writing his characters. He could read them, but they seem a bit older than the current Japanese used by many people... But, then again, he did mention he was from a village and only got onto Elder Tales through hacking. He was allowed to play after paying back the time he played for free and it actually got him a job, so it worked out.

"I guess you're a closet pervert, too!" Naotsugu chimed through sweating with getting a bird from Las Boss. "Even if work had calmed down, there was no need to take a vacation in the virtual world. And with things like this, can we really go back?" Naotsugu said jokingly with changing the subject.

All the other players trapped in this world should be asking the same thing. Naotsugu expressing this suffocating problem in such a joking manner showed his mental tenacity and his concern for Shiroe.

"I was thinking, maybe a new god just took over, and has a delusional fantasy."

"It is so cruel to trap us this way. Really, the whole world has turned upside down, is this some type of festival?"

"Yeah, let's not have any expectations that we can go back anytime soon."

"Your world of accepting this situation also seems ruthless."

"Only suicidal people will show mercy when they know what is going on."

"As expected of the tactician of the Tea Party." Naotsugu replied condescendingly, then shook his head and said with a serious expression. "Right, no expectations for now. So going by the fantasy novel settings, we need to survive by our own from now on?" He was not happy about this, but Shiroe nodded and agreed with Naotsugu's questions. According to Shiroe's memory, he had done everything as usual, living normally, taking baths, logging in to Elder Tales, fighting monsters with the beginner twins, before his consciousness was cut off. Everything he did was about the same as usual, but he was forcefully trapped in this situation.

It might be due to some external factors or some mistake he made, but there was no way for Shiroe to find out. There might be some way out of this situation and alternate world, but Shiroe didn't know how at this instance. In other words, be it searching for a way back or going back to the old world by some unknown external mechanism, they needed to live in this world before that happened.

"We might wake up in our old world if we die here, but I wouldn't recommend doing that. Acting like that would be the same as borrowing a billion dollars from loan sharks because you think the earth might explode!"

"Doesn't seems like a wise choice. If dying here meant dying for real, that would be a waste."

"That's right."

"But tactician Shiroe, it shouldn't be a problem if we just want to survive right?"

"Is it?"

"We are level 90 right? It might be bad if we needed to challenge a difficult zone, but it shouldn't be hard just living on right? We have money, we have equipment... My equipment is a bit outdated, but it is still serviceable, so there shouldn't be any problem right?" Elder Tales was a RPG that used level systems, Shiroe, Las Boss, and Naotsugu were at level 90, the previous level cap in this world.

But this was not something worth mentioning, about half the players were level 90. Elder Tales had a long history and similar to other online games, it has went through hundreds of updates, adding all sorts of game elements.

Although Shiroe didn't experience that period, but the level cap when Elder Tales just started was 50. The players enjoyed the Elder Tales world and would grind their characters to the level cap, and request for more adventures from the developers. To meet these demands, the developers pushed out an expansion pack. It had new enemies, dungeons and adventures, as well as a higher level cap for the heroes to become stronger. There had been several level cap revisions since then, the latest one was 90.

The cap of level 90 came with the 'Sacred Heart' expansion 3 years ago. The official announcement for the 'Novasphere Pioneers' expansion pack included an increased level cap to 100. This meant the players would have time to grow their Adventurer's avatar. Before the release of the new expansion pack, half the players were already at the level cap and there was nothing strange about it.

"... I don't think this is it."

"Why?" Naotsugu was not discouraged even when facing such a situation. Shiroe admired Naotsugu's optimism. Shiroe didn't have his mental strength. Shiroe was filled with unease. His heart analyzed the situation as if it were driven by this sense of unease.

-This world may not be the same.- Las Boss pointed out with his written statement, but glared at Naotsugu who looked confused.

"We came to this alternate world... though we do not know if this is simply a game world, but we were sucked into this situation... That is already a strange matter."

"Yeah? Eh, that is not wrong... Hmmm?

"Simply put, I think 'It is impossible to stumble into an alternate world by normal logic. Since something extraordinary happened, we cannot take anything for granted. So we might get hurt if we take it for granted that we will be fine.'"

Shiroe's words stunned Naotsugu for a while, and he replied with a resisting expression. "Your syllogism sounds really nasty."

"My point is that we can't ignore this too."

"You have a point, but..." Naotsugu clenched and unclenched his fist repeatedly, maybe he was doubting the reliability of his level 90 body.

-Shiroe is only trying to say that now that this is real life, we cannot fully trust gaming logic.- Naotsugu looked at Las Boss in shock before he tapped the ground again. -With being a higher level, it might be true that we are stronger and all... We simply cannot ignore now that these bodies are no longer just 3D-models pixals, but flesh and blood.-

"Heh heh... I see... Where as in the game, there was not really much wounds even with getting HP done low, we could break an arm here." Naotsugu chuckled, now getting the point.

"I want to make another thing clear, you might have missed it because of the uproar... But the new expansion pack should be in effect now."

"Novasphere Pioneers right?"

"Yeah, this means there will be new equipment, monsters, quest and more zones as well right? They might have remodeled some areas too."

"Now that you mention it... that is absolutely right."

-Correct. I checked my crafting skill sets and found new items already up for crafting.- Las Boss wrote, confirming Shiroe's point.

Shiroe shifted his gaze away from Naotsugu and continued: "Magic seems to work here. Choosing the magic from the menu is dangerous and slow in a live battle, but if we set it on the hotkey, we can cast spell after a short cast time, I have confirmed this."

"Yeah, I tried that too, all the skills I learned can be executed."

"But that doesn't mean we can win battles."

"Is that so?"

"How tall are you Naotsugu? I mean in real life."

"183cm, same as my game character." Naotsugu rubbed the top of his head.

"I see, so there should be no strange sensation for you. There is several cm difference between me and my character's height, so it feels a bit off. Eh, something like wearing shoes with thick soles... If the length of the limbs are different, this sensation is even more obvious. There are some differences between this body and our real body, this is not the body we are familiar with. Even if we can use swords or magic, how accustomed we are to fighting is an unknown."

"Ah, you are right, that is a bunch of troublesome problems." Naotsugu grinned at Las Boss, knowing his height was way off. Las Boss simply scowled at the man who was wandering if Las Boss was planning to kill him.

"... Another important matter is the difficulty in checking the status screen." Naotsugu had a surprised face as Shiroe carried on.

"We can see the status screen by focusing on our forehead. If we form a party, we should be able to see each other's HP, but to do that in live battle will be hard. I'm still fine, but for Naotsugu who is on the frontline, it will be difficult to keep track of the status screen while fighting the enemies in front of you."

"You mean it is difficult to fight?"

"I think it is better to keep this in mind." He did not explain it to Naotsugu, but the field of vision was crucial as well. You could make your point of view wider if you were playing from the monitor and see things from a wider angle. But currently, they could only see at an angle of 120 degrees in front of them. Take Trolls and Giants as examples, fighting these huge foes would create blind spots that weren't there before... There are tons of problems in terms of battles.

-There's a lot more to fighting than just what the game let's on.- Shiroe was shocked out of his thoughts by Las Boss's tapping. -I should know as I have done sparring before for practicing fighting... You have to understand your body well to properly fight. Also, your scope of understanding the situation is also tested even without being able to check your status like we have now. If you don't pay attention to details like blind spots, your reach, your balance, and so on... Well, let's just say it would not end as good here as it would in a drunk fight usually does in the real world.-

"I see." Naotsugu replied, realizing Las Boss's point. "Anything else?"

"Also..."

"What is it, is it hard to say?"

Shiroe was surprised by his own troubled sigh. Frankly, the issues with battles and the difference in game environment were trivial. It could be troublesome and more challenging, but Shiroe thought this was something they could overcome. The things he wanted to say made Shiroe's heart heavy, he had been buying time by talking about unimportant things to prepare himself.

"What is it, famous tactician?" Although Naotsugu called him that, Shiroe was not fit to be a tactician. Shiroe would voice out his thoughts because it was Naotsugu, but Shiroe was used to thinking about all sorts of things by himself. Because of his attention to minute details, the Debauchery Tea Party gave him the nickname of 'tactician'. He had a way with words, so he took on the duty of planning and coordinating battles.

-He is thinking of the bigger picture.- Shiroe smiled at Las Boss's comment. Las Boss was always good at reading others, though mostly Shiroe. Hence people often thought at times they were twins when playing together with how well they worked together. Las Boss was not seen as much as a tactician as Shiroe, but he was very good at his own strategies in his own rights. Where if a flaw happened in Shiroe's plan, Las Boss would instantly think of a new one on the spot and either get the plan back on track or even enhance it where Shiroe would have not thought of. Usually, when the planner type and the instant type of tacticians meet, they would fuss and get nothing done. However, Shiroe and Las Boss worked together to get things done instead, often relying on the other if something goes wrong and fix it with the utmost efficiency.

"...The Japanese server of Elder Tales has 1,200,000 registered characters with 100,000 consistent players."

"Hmmm? That is correct." For players like Shiroe, such numbers were common sense.

"Today is the release of the new expansion pack, so there are more people online than usual. From the ratio of the people who are online on my friend list, I estimate about 30,000 people are online. At this point, this should be correct... This alternate world is accommodating 30,000 Japanese, I am not sure about the North American, Europe or China server though."

Naotsugu nodded in agreement. "So there are 30,000 people here..."

Shiroe didn't use the word players intentionally. "We have no laws or government."

* * *

Endnote-Alright. I hoped you enjoy this chapter. Until next time.


	4. Catastrophe Part 3

Authornote- Howdy, everyone, finally got to revamping this chapter and now posting it. Review and let me know if this is better than the last chapter. If it is, I will be going back and fixing up Part 2 for future readers since I am adjusting to this new style of writing for this story.

Now, a quick note for my whole account, I will be adding four stories to this fanfiction account. These are not new stories, but just me shifting the ones I am rewriting on another account to this one so all my active stories is on this account and ones not continuing going to that one. I will be moving Persona: Innocent Fate to that account probably this weekend. I will be posting these four new stories one at a time once I have their next chapter done. The first being my rewrite of my Digimon/Naruto crossover from my Auto-nin account. Though, before that, Persona: Parallel Paradox's next chapter will be posted today or tomorrow once I do final proofing.

Disclaimer-I do not own Naruto or Log Horizon. They belong to there respectful owners and this is just fanfiction. If I did own it like the writer of Log Horizon(which as a original work he posted as practice for another novel), then I would be getting an income from this.

* * *

**Volume 1**

**Catastrophe Part 3**

Las Boss headed towards the city with Shiroe and Naotsugu. They tried to discuss things further, but they lacked information to talk (or write for Las Boss) about to conclude anything. He understood at least the situation the best out of all three of them. They were at least in a world akin to Elder Tales, which is a world similar to his own village's technology level though a bit lower. There were monsters possibly outside Akiba and this meant they were possibly safe now, but leaving the city would instantly put them into danger. Hence the trio formed a party which still had the same functions as the game. It allowed them all to see each other's stats and also gave them a rough location of where they are in the same area. A saving grace in Las Boss's eyes as there was no such thing in real life for him.

Akiba maybe is a non-combat zone, but he knew sooner or later, people were going to test the limits of "non-combat." The instant a "combat" action is done in the city, the city guards would appear and deal with the guilty one by either sending them to jail or killing the rule breaker for resisting, though they would revive back in the Cathedral... No one wanted to test out if the reviving at the Cathedral was still possible. However, the current situation was on pins and needles. He may have not witnessed it, but Las Boss has heard of what desperate people would do from merchants who travelled. Even if monsters did not appear in the city and it looked to be the "safest" place... It really wasn't. In fact, he would not be surprised if it could possibly turn far more dangerous in a heartbeat.

Though, Las Boss noticed there were a lot more NPCs walking around, looking confuse and trying to figure out what was going on before going on their way... People of the Land as he remembered what the NPCs were called. However, NPC was no longer viable for these people. If this was indeed another reality, they were actually flesh and blood. They were possibly human... No, they were human and he knew others would probably not realize that the NPCs were human... Not that Las Boss can't voice it out or even write it. He still wanted proof that this was reality. Even with the all his senses absorbing the details of the nice summer day in Akiba... It was overwhelming to Las Boss that he was no longer in his real body and no longer in the reality he once knew.

With reaching a major road, the trio was greeted with the beauty of nature turning a decaying city back into its claim. Las Boss may have made concept art for some of the cities... But, the real deal was even more amazing than what he put on a computer screen and paper. He had only seen skyscrapers in his resources and other people's art. It was simply amazing to see such buildings, even in decay, towering to the sky. It made Las Boss wonder what Akiba was like in the reality Shiroe and Naotsugu came from.

With seeing the bazaar area... He could see his hunches beginning to coming true. He could see at least a few hundred players here. Almost all of them had gloomy, some even dead like eyes. He could easily read some of their faces, all begging for some kind of miracle... But, he knew that was not going to happen. The low noise level of whispers reminded him of a funeral, which might be true. It was the funeral of the reality they all once knew.

'Pitiful. Don't they realize they can't hope for something to happen.' Las Boss thought in slight spite. But, in the back of his mind, he remembers when he was like that. His eyes always begging for help like the ones looking at him. However, Las Boss also knew he could not help them. Mainly due to this is something too big for one person to deal with, even as a game master...

It was unlike back then when he had the same eyes, just one person, any person, could have saved him from his suffering. In both these cases, one could only learn from themselves how to push forward and either figure out how to just help themselves or those around them. Even he, a game official, had no idea what was going on, but he was not going to sit around and do nothing. But he had no clue what to exactly do and hence his main object to find what he can and cannot do.

Las Boss noticed Shiroe looking away from the people looking at them. He did not blame his friend. He would not be surprise if Shiroe was trying his hardest not to become like those souls, paralyzed to do anything except complain.

Las Boss was used to the gloom and knew how well it could try and drag on into its abyss. Even though he was treated probably worse than other orphans, there were other orphans who also was tormented by the state for various reasons. He learned of suicide quite quickly in life with being in an orphanage. But, then again, his village was focused on military and honor... Some of those orphans who committed suicide lost their parents due to their service or also did suicide to keep their honor.

'But, then again, the only reason I am not in the same shape is due to my own tenacity from the last few weeks.' Las Boss thought, remembering when he finally realized his own illusion to reality being shattered after having enough of the same nasty looks from even the ones who were supposed to help him. He gave up the naive dream and took up reality as is. Though, it seems life just hated him a bit too much.

"Shiroe? Isn't that Shiroe?" That came from a female voice. It was not too loud, but in this quiet and depressed atmosphere, the cheerful bell like voice attracted a lot of attention. Las Boss looked and was shocked to see who it was.

"Maryelle, that was too loud! This... This is too prominent!" Shiroe slightly panic at the sudden call out.

" What is the problem with that?! It is like a funeral procession here!" Shiroe was pulled by Maryelle's hand. The woman who ignored Shiroe's words and kept on talking was a female player Maryelle known as Sister Marie. Las Boss knew here from helping her guild before with Shiroe. "You came at the right time! I was just looking for you!"

"... Eh, may I ask, why are you looking for me?" Shiroe asked with a slight blush.

"Wow! What a beautiful lady! Where were you hiding this hot chick? You panties pervert," Las Boss scowled at the knight. Sure, he was a guy, but he had no idea why Naotsugu was always into... underwear.

"Please don't use the word 'panties' now, Naotsugu." Shiroe said, showing his discomfort between the women and knight. The four of them left the city square slowly and entered an inconspicuous alley. Las Boss did not blame them moving. If he was not used to it, he would be feeling sick. Also, Maryelle was even more famous than Shiroe and him and even with their own fame; they had to be aware now of their surroundings.

"What an impatient boy you are, Shiroe, bringing me to a place like this." Las Boss flinched from the woman's tone. Her teasing always made him uncomfortable...He knew Maryelle was not a bad person, but she just... was a bit overly cheerful for his taste. Sure, he used to be just as cheerful, but even he had enough of trying to suck up the pain with just as painful of a grin.

"That's not what I want." Shiroe let out a sigh with knowing already her innocent sly teasing.

"So, Shiroe made a girlfriend? That was quick." Naotsugu winked at Shiroe, getting a beady glare right back.

"That's not it. Sorry, sorry. Ah, this is Naotsugu." Las Boss smirked at his friend who was trying to keep himself together as now there was two "teasers" to deal with.

"I am Naotsugu, friend of Shiroe... How may I address you?"

"I am Maryelle, you can call me Marie or Marie-nee-chan. Woah! Naotsugu is handsome too! You guys are a combo?" Naotsugu laughed gently. Although Las Boss could tell the name "Marie-nee-chan" was right on the ball.

Maryelle maybe a Cleric, one of the strongest of the 3 healing classes, she was no introvert much like himself and many healers. She was always warm and inviting, never turning down someone in need.

Even with her Elf appearance, she was nothing like the "Elf" image either of elegance or royalty. Her real world charms passed onto her character enough that he would be able to find her in the reality she belonged to with just her face and voice. Maryelle was the guild master of the Cresent Moon Alliance, a small guild designed to help new players with a warm welcome. They even welcomed those not even a part of their guild like Shiroe and Las Boss himself.

"You have such a gloomy expression." Maryelle pouted at Shiroe.

"...Eh, that's still okay." Las Boss let out a sigh at the conversation. He wanted so badly to speak, yet now had no voice. Though, having a long face was normal in this situation, but he thought about how his facial features in the real world would reflect on the body of this world. He has not seen what his face looked like. He was curious with finding out from the other's that their faces were still close to their real life faces Even Las Boss noticed Maryelle had some differences between her face and the typical forest Elves' faces he seen as game models and his concept art.

"Anyway, I also don't want to be gloomy and I can understand how you feel! I have had enough! This is so ridiculous that I am feeling psychotic!" Maryelle whined, look more of a child than a grown woman. "What kind of look is this? Humph, you must be thinking this is not my style, right?" Maryelle touched Shiroe's forehead gently with her finger. "My joking nature is my hobby, but the jokes I am making now is escapism. I am really troubled right now."

"Is she always like this Shiroe?" Naotsugu asked, Las Boss smirking at the now lost look in the guy's eyes.

"Yeah, she is always like this." Shiroe said as if it was an normal topic.

"But she is pretending right now?" Naotsugu seemingly pleaded more than ask.

"I can't tell the difference." Maryelle's words surprised Naotsugu, but Las Boss could see that Naotsugu was beginning to understand her personality. Maryelle laughed loudly at Naotsugu's reservations towards her, but she stopped and sighed under the stares of Shiroe, Las Boss, and Naotsugu.

"Aye, hmmm... The situation is bad."

"Yes... Want to exchange information?"

"That's fine, where should we start.. No, I remember, hmmm, let's be careful and talk at my place. Would you mind Naotsugu?... Oh! Las Boss! You're here, too?!" Las Boss instantly hid behind Shiroe, using him like a meat shield. "You're still role playing? Oh, well, you don't mind coming over to my place?" Las Boss nodded, understanding the situation... Yet, it seems even his habits in the game were also mimicked in his new body. He always made sure there was one person between him and the cheerful woman at all times. Not that he hated her, he just did not like the... habit she had.

Maryelle invited them to her guild hall and they went to the guild hall building to avoid any issues of others listening in anymore in their conversation. The guild hall was basically akin to a government building where NPCs worked in the lobby for the bank and other things that allowed players to store their goods or even make a guild and maintain the guild including players able to joins existing guilds. Everyone in this game world had a bank account used to deposit cash or valuable items... Well, correction, only Adventurers had a bank account as the Land of the People could not use the bank.

However, the building also allowed rental space for guilds to make their guild halls. This was a popular option compared to buying zones to make a guild hall at. Buying zones were expensive and you had to pay an upkeep fee per month after the purchase. Hence the guild hall building became a rental place to give smaller and medium guilds that did not have the money to buy a zone a guild hall. Guild halls were used by their members to store items and craft items along with it being a place to gather and interact.

However, Las Boss only worried about using the Guild Hall's bank for storage of items he did not need at the moment. His unique item, "To-Go- Atelier," saved him the hassles of needing a person space for crafting and gave him a pretty big storage in carrying alone. Though, with his "crafting binges" he has been able to max out his storage several times and forced to either store them in the bank or sell the items he did not need.

Once on the second floor, Shiroe, Las Boss, and Naotsugu went through a set of double doors and entered the guild hall of Crescent Moon Alliance after being registered as visitors. The guild halls in Akiba guild building had a basic retro design. Even though it was a basic design, it was just because of the floor and wallpaper that gave off this feeling. You could decorate the zone you rented or bought anyway you wanted to. The guild hall of Crescent Moon Alliance had been cleaned thoroughly by its members, making it a comfortable place. The walls were wooden veneer, giving it a warm familial feeling.

"We won't disturb other people here, right?" Maryelle walked further into the guild hall as she said this. "Come in. Ah, don't need to hold back, take a seat. Please take a seat, too, Naotsugu, Las Boss." After entering a room deep within the guild hall, Maryelle pounced on a couch full of pink pillows and gestured for Shiroe, Las Boss and Naotsugu to sit.

"This is quite a feminine room."

"That's right, I am a guild master after all, so my room needs to reflect the dignity of a guild master!" Maryelle chimed with a wink.

Pink pillows, teddy bears, a princess bed, a painting of a noble looking dog, curtains with yellow laces... 'Though I understand she is female, I don't think this ring with the word "Dignity".' Las Boss thought, leaning on the couch with wanting to move in an instant. It was not that he did not trust the girl... He just had a feeling she had the same habits as she pulled in the game.

However, he felt restless like an intruder in a private room. Fortunately, it was the forthright Maryelle. If it was the private room of any other girl, Las Boss would have definitely retreated. He already dealt with too many misunderstandings just being near the girl's locker rooms and bathrooms at the academy...But even if the decor was too flashy, the room of the guild master was very spacious. They also have 5-6 rooms for storage and workspace, if he remembered correctly. A rental for a guild hall like this must be quite high.

'Hm, 40,000 with an upkeep of 80... Is this kind of price right?' Las Boss thought, his business side taking over. He had been in the guild hall before to help with some craft requests. He knew also from other guild halls he had been into how the prices and spaces were, which he found renting in Elder Tales to be a bit high in price even when it was just a game. But, then again, buying properties in Elder Tales was even higher.

"How is your side coping with this Maryelle?" Las Boss looked at Shiroe, dragging himself from his thoughts. He needed information, not his mind drifting.

"There are 19 people online including me, 18 of us are in Akiba. Everyone is afraid and is staying inside the guild hall... Ah, don't be too concerned, they won't hear us if we are not too noisy."

Maryelle answered Shiroe's query smoothly.

'18 in Akiba, meaning 1 of them was in another zone. Was that other member on an errand in another city?' Las Boss thought, though, he had a feeling even if the other member was in another city, the situation and state of said city would be the roughly same as here... Maybe a little better or worse.

"From what we know, Shibuya, Minami, Susukino and Nakasu are in the same state." This meant all 5 cities in Akiba's server were in the same situation. Maryelle should have confirmed this using her wide network of friends. Her network was much more reliable than Las Boss's since he could not speak.

"Could it be that..."

"That's right. The inter-city transport gate has stop functioning. We have been isolated." Maryelle answered Naotsugu's queries. This was new information to him... But Las Boss expected as much. He already had theories building up in his mind of how they possibly ended up in the game. He has done a bit of research trying to figure out how his village even got internet when there was no means for it. The fact that the inter-city transport systems were down meant something was either stopping magic from reaching the gates or something drained it all of its power... Possibly what has trapped all the players in this world... But, then again, it was just a theory... However...

Akiba, Shibuya, Minami, Susukino, and Nakasu were important cities. Without the transport systems, there was no means to travel quickly to other places. Worse, they were the base cities for all Adventurers and that meant everyone was in one of those five cities for the Japanese servers. Guilds were possibly missing several members who are in Elder Tales, but somewhere else in the lands. Trying to get to those members would mean fighting monsters and that it itself would be a dangerous task some guilds would not wish to take.

"It means that going to Shibuya is still okay, but other cities will be difficult."

"Even if it is Shibuya, eh, how many was it? We need to go through 7-8 zones to reach it?"

"The shortest distance is 4 zones." Shiroe replied casually. Las Boss guessed Shiroe was also realizing the issues as well. Elder Tales was a game that has a fantasy world view uses horses or walking as a primary way of transport for Adventurers. However, Elder Tales was also part of a "half-gaia" project, to where it was half the size of Earth. The time to get from one place to another was still quite long. Take Susukino as an example. It was situated in Sapporo on the map of Japan, from Akiba... From Tokyo to Susukino, you needed to go through a huge amount of zones, it should take at least a week in game time... However, now that this is reality, it could take up to a month or two with how he heard merchants talked about their routes from his village and his time guesses would be closer since the merchants from his village had to deal with bandits and animals that could close enough to count as monsters.

"Can you imagine... why did things turn out this way?" Shiroe and the others could only answer with silence. Seeing Maryelle's dejected expression, Las Boss wished to answer this question, but he didn't have the ability to. Literally since he did not have a voice.

"Cheer up Maryelle... Things are serious now, but it could be worse."

"Is that so...?"

Naotsugu continued talking to the depressed Maryelle: "Even though we are trapped in this alternate world, there should be tens of thousands of Japanese here right? Including the hundreds of thousands of players overseas, we have so many people in the same boat as us, so it is not the worst case scenario, right? We have a common language, some money on hand, and we can still talk in this room after barging into this world. Isn't that the best evidence? I haven't confirm it yet, but our stamina seems to have strengthened according to our character's status. We can use swords and magic. In other words, we have been given the basic ability to survive in this world. Compared to classic fantasy novels where the characters travels to an alternate world, we are much more fortunate. You can even say it is a piece of cake." Naotsugu encouraged her strongly.

"Are you familiar with such things Naotsugu?"

"I'm quite alright. I've read quite a bit about this when I was still schooling." Las Boss was impressed by Naotsugu. That made a lot of sense, but even he realize it might be the opposite as well. Those who had the power and money could easily take over... He was beginning to think negatively like Shiroe... But, then again, he did not have much positive to look towards to begin with. Now that his childhood illusions were gone, there was not much positive in his life till he got his life together... And currently being a game character was quite a snag in that.

"Yeah... You are right!" Maryelle seemed to be at the same cheerfulness again. She looked at Naotsugu with gratitude and hugged him all of a sudden. "Yeah! You are right! Naotsugu! Impressive! I am so moved, you have saved me!"

"Hold on?! What's with her?!" Naotsugu struggled under Maryelle's embrace, but Maryelle ignored him and hugged him tight. Las Boss just snickered, knowing all too well the feeling. Even in the game, he did not like to hug since he was not used to such invasion to his private space or vitural private space... Yet, why the developers put in a "hugging" option, he had no clue. It seemed to be Maryelle's favorite attack, though, and everyone who knew of his "dislike" among the GM always were attempting to glomp his characters during the GM livecasts they would do to show new stuff in patches while servers were down. He may have been mainly a GM in name, but he had a following oddly enough from what he was told and saw online. His "What's this? CRAAAAAAAZYYYYYYYYY Enchanter!" video he posted on his blog to show off a new build he discovered went viral instantly.

"Maryelle? You have visitors?" A lady wearing spectacles knocked as she enters, she had an awkward expression as she looked at Maryelle and Naotsugu.

"Sorry to intrude Miss Henrietta." Shiroe said, sighing at the dup next to him.

"Hello, Mr. Shiroe... Mr. Las Boss... Should I come back later?"

"I was hoping you could stop her."

"On it. Really... Hey, Maryelle! Don't act in such a shameful manner!" The lady entering on Shiroe's request was Henrietta, the Bard in charge of the guild's accounts. She pulled Maryelle back by her shoulders and lectured her. Las Boss knew Henrietta well as they were both quite understanding in how business and organizations run.

"Wah! Henrietta? I heard some great opinions! Naotsugu is right! He gave such a great speech!"

"I'm not asking about this! Now is a crucial period, consider the situation!" Looking at the blushing and exhausted Naotsugu and the interaction between Maryelle and Henrietta, Shiroe laughed at them both. Las Boss just smiled, knowing how creepy his laugh was now due to his useless throat. He literally made Shiroe and Naotsugu's blood run cold when he tried to laugh at a small joke the other two made to help ease each other earlier.

Henrietta was a core member of the Crescent Moon Alliance and on good terms with both Shiroe and Las Boss. She was a Bard in charge of the guild's finances, a competent character. A blonde with wavy hair, an oval face and sharp chestnut eyes, she looked just like a businesswoman instead of a character out of a fantasy game.

After Henrietta joined in, the four of them talked about their experiences so far and summarized their situation while Las Boss listened, putting in written notes of his opinions... But it had only been half a day, they still didn't really understand what happened.

"What should we do now..."

"I think we should get in touch with our comrades through telepathy to avoid any confusion."

Henrietta made a calm suggestion and Las Boss agreed. At this moment, there was too much they did not know. Jumping into the waters now may seem safe, but it also could be hiding a lot of hungry sharks. This was what Las Boss felt, especially with dealing with that kind of situation in the real world though on a MUCH smaller scale.

"That is correct, Henrietta! Mr. Shiroe and Mr. Naotsugu both made good points. Fortunately, we have a guild hall, so for sleeping at night... It might be a bit of a squeeze, but I think it would be better for everyone to sleep here for now..." Maryelle chimed happily.

"That's right..." Henrietta nodded in agreement. Henrietta and Maryelle's conversation, however, made Naotsugu flinch.

"What is it Naotsugu?"

"Nothing, just that this is so sudden, I'm not sure what to do." Naotsugu denied in a hurry when he heard Shiroe's question. He was always making dirty jokes but seemed so weak to direct attacks.

"Is Naotsugu weak against breasts? Want to touch?" Naotsugu averted his eyes at Maryelle's words, although he still took a peek with being caught. Breasts held the hopes and desire of men after all or that's what Las Boss heard from adult men. Hence his prank he made for knocking out or at least embarrassing such perverts.

'Oie... Here goes the breast deal again... I don't get it... But, then again, I am only a pre-teen... It must be a full-on adult thing.' Las Boss thought, though smirking with seeing Naotsugu struggling under the direct attacks. Shiroe and Las Boss were also bullied by Maryelle when they first met. But Shiroe insisted on putting on the attitude of 'Ah? What about these two lumps of fats? It's heavy, please take it away'. Las Boss, on the other hand, simply ignored it all and trying to stay out of the path of those deadly lumps. He was amazed she never thought to try and use them like a weapon to suffocate naive men.

When Elder Tales was just a game, teasing was just through the conversation while the screen showed their characters sticking together. Maryelle had stopped teasing Shiroe this way recently, probably having gotten bored of it. Though, Las Boss, she kept at it, probably thinking she could get him to speak through voice chat.

"Why is she acting so bold? It is scary!" Naotsugu voice tremble, making Las Boss pondering if the man really was scared of the woman.

"Maryelle came from an all girls' school. Osaka people will become like that under that kind of environment... Maryelle? It doesn't matter since this is a game, but now is a crucial period so restraint yourself!" Maryelle was lectured by Henrietta with a dejected expression on the cheerful woman. She would modestly accept criticism even though she was the guild master, that was one of Maryelle's good points.

Las Boss did not join any guild and didn't trust the guild system. That didn't mean he disliked players in guilds. It... was not so much a "hate," but more so a "fear" of simply being just used and tossed away. Even if it was a game, he already had enough of his own existence seemingly denied to deal with such rejection. He already been through enough of it in real life...

Las Boss had formed parties with Maryelle and Henrietta several times, Maryelle with her wide network of friends also gave Shiroe and Las Boss a lot of help. If Las Boss was not mistaken, the cheerful Maryelle who liked to take care of others would keep her distance from Shiroe and himself who was afraid of personal relationships as a way to show her concern.

'Maryelle is like Naotsugu, though opposite gender and much bolder.' Las Boss thought, though annoyed he really had no voice... Now he realized why he was such a loud mouth in the academy. He hated not being able to say anything. He listened to Shiroe as he explains in detail everything he had considered to Maryelle. Maryelle paid special attention about the issues with battles and pointed out questions. She frowned when she heard about the number of people in the server and the conflicts the players might get into.

"I see... You are right. After listening to you, I think that is very possible. Apart from violent incidents, they might be scams and pranks as well..." Las Boss did not blame her worry since she had roughly a group of 19 to take care of. Unlike Las Boss who only needed to look after himself, Maryelle needed to protect all her comrades, and she was also a woman as well.

"That's right! Listen to him, lady! Don't do that again! You need to have some common sense! Having a small brain is not good!" Naotsugu pumped his fist, trying to at least curve the girl's habit hugging and teasing habits. Though Las Boss mentally added Naotsugu should do the same with his fascination with underwear first.

"Woo! You are right! My breasts are big but my brain is small! We just met, but do you need to be so ruthless Naotsugu? Naotsugu is annoying idiot!"

"Nope, Mr. Naotsugu has a point. You need to correct this habit you have of hugging people since high school." Henrietta bobbed the girl across the head.

"These things don't matter, right? Henrietta, your real name is Umeko anyway!"

"Ehh! I told you not to use that!" From the way they interacted, Henrietta and Maryelle knew each other in real life. Las Boss was not sure how much of this serious topic went into their heads. But, it did remind him of how some of the other classmates acted at the academy. It often caused him pain watching them and knowing he never had the same interactions with them. Probably never will in the future if he ever returned there.

'I really need to stop thinking negatively.' Las Boss thought, drowning out the conversation. He opened his skills menu to look through what he had. He was a Druid, one of the three healing classes. Whereas Maryelle's Cleric class had the highest healing and defense, Druids were more balanced and focused on healing per second. They also had some support and offensive spells and a good physical attack considering being a healer class. However, the cost of this was MP consumption due to layering spells with having only an average MP build. This is easily overcome if the user picks a race with a higher MP build or use MP absorbing items to get back MP while fighting or both in Las Boss's case.

However, even with being an idiot at the academy, he knew all too well the knowledge of knowing one's skills for battle. However, he did noticed his HP and MP gotten quite a boost when he first looked at his status. His character's race was Race of Ritual. It had a horrible HP and defense many dreaded and hence the least popular of the races, but gave the class a high MP and magic skills.

Yet, instead of his original stats of 7630 in HP and 12810 in MP from back when Elder Tales was just a game... His current stats were 8105 in HP and 51340 in MP. The HP was still within the realm of normal for a magic using class... But, his MP had quadrupled! Shooting pass even the MP of raid bosses when the world was still a game. Heck, even the GMs he knew that hacked the game to be a special boss in events didn't go that high. The only reason he could think of this was his character also took not just his real face, but also some "bonuses" from his real life... Though, even though he knew he had more "energy" than his other classmates, he did not think he had enough to quadruple his MP!

'But, then again, it would explain some of my issues.' Las Boss thought, looking through his menu of spells. All of his spells were either Hidden or Secret level, making the skills quite powerful. He still also had mastery points, but has not decided on which of the last skills he wanted to turn from Hidden to Secret since all the ones he used the most were already to that level. He knew every spell by heart, including cast time and such. Yet, even he was curious of-

"Ha t?" The four others stopped their conversation and looked at Las Boss when he spoke, though only heard due to a pause in the talk. Las Boss looked at them before digging into this robe's pocket and pulling out a fresh sheet of paper. The one he already had out next to an ink well and a feather pen was full of writing.

-Does your guild hall set to allow skill usage?- Las Boss wrote confusing the four even more.

"Mr. Las Boss, why do you ask that? And why are you not speaking?" Heneritta asked, adjusting her glasses with a stern look on her face.

"His voice does not work due to possibly how his body is." Shiroe explained, though also showing some confusion.

-Let me use a skill. It might help me confirm something.- Las Boss added.

"Hmm. Alright, as long as you don't cause damage." Heneritta glared at Maryelle.

-It won't.- Las Boss put the pen down before pushing the button in menu for the skill he has found. He was somewhat shocked as his hand suddenly moved to a common hand seal he always done before. "Henge!" Las Boss shouted... Well, it was barely a rasp, but it made a whole word instead of normal few noises he had managed to say. All four jumped, however, when Las Boss engulfed in a puff of smoke.

"Hack hack!" The four blinked as the smoke began to disappear. "Why did they put so much smoke?..." All four heard a raspy voice, but it was more clear and louder than what they heard from Las Boss before. Their eyes instantly were wide with the smoke fully cleared. "Ah, my voice is still bad... Probably a side effect from the changes." Standing where Las Boss as at was now a child that was a short pre-teen. He had all of Las Boss's features... Just shrunken. "At least I can speak... But, this only holds for an hour or two and at being just Comprehension level, I am only able to be used every two days."

"Amazing! A new skills from the expansion!" Maryelle said in awe.

"Boss, did you hack the game again?" Shiroe sighed, remembering when Las Boss was a GM.

"No. This is actually a skill that would be available after the patch for the expansion comes out in a couple of months." All four now looked at Las Boss with shock. "With the expansion today, Alpha testing was going to begin in my region for Elder Tales to introduce several new servers. Only those who are from those servers would have these special skills since... they come from those places."

"Huh? Like a new race?" Naotsugu asked, confused.

"No... Henge no Jutsu is a low skill for ninja in my world... Oh, now that I can speak. Hello. I am Las Boss. It's a joke off Shiroe and me did when we started and I happened to win the electronic rock-paper-scissors to use the joke name. You can also say I am Earth's first alien to make contact with."

"... Eh?"Shiroe asked while the rest was silent. "... You're not a chuunibyou comes?"

"No. Though I do have an overactive imagination which is why Elder Tale developers jumped on that raw talent for improving the game, I was telling you the truth, Shiroe." Las Boss sighed, quite annoyed his friend still thought he had the "middle schooler" disease. Just because you had a vibrant imagination did not make you insane. "Though, I don't blame you for not accepting it... I am still trying to figure out how the hell I got internet from Earth when my planet is clearly several light years away."

"A-Amazing! So, do you have a spaceship!" Heneritta bobbed the Cleric across the head.

"No... In fact, Earth is more advanced than my world." All four sweated at Las Boss. "Even though we have electricity and some things similar to your world, most of our stuff is backwards like Elder Tales... Minus we are a bit more advance to this world. We do have computers, but outside my own computers and the ones being made though my prototype consule, they are like dinosaurs compared to the ones you used. I was organizing a game system that only played Elder Tales to be released in the richer, more technology advanced areas where the electrify is more stable."

"An experiment?" Heneritta asked, her stern look still up. "Could it be-"

"No. This current situation was not part of the set up. In fact, I think they didn't even managed to launch for the expansion as planned due to some bugs as I got an email from the company doing the server an hour or so before the expansion." Shiroe nodded, now understanding what Las Boss was saying. "It worked with me where I was able to use the information the game developers gave me as payment for my services to upgrade my computers and even build a prototype gaming system that even your world would be soon able to use. My world, though technological declined compared to yours, is focused greatly on military and we also have abilities akin to the Elder Tales... Though, we use energy called catkra and the main military is shinobi and shinobi villages."

"So... That's why you're not too out of place. You seemed quite relaxed compared to other players." Shiroe said, smiling at his friend. "But, isn't it chakra? Not catkra?"

"Thank you, Grammar Nazi." Las Boss sneered, though not of spite. "That and I had been through some tough times the last few weeks. I just quit the shinobi academy a few weeks ago and went full time as a concept artist and graphic designer along with my gig as GM here in Elder Tales. It is kind of hard to do that when there are no jobs yet for that job field... Add the fact we had to delay the release of the console due to demand being higher than expected for just testing and some of the content I worked on also delayed to the patch due later... Yeah... This is just another drop in the bucket of my hellhole of a life... Though, I am now thankful of the delay in opening the patch. Since it was delayed, they would need my okay to start it up and since I am not there, there will not anyone else from my world stuck here... Hopefully, that is."

"Las Boss... You're just ten, right?" Naotsugu asked, sweating at the kid's depressed tone.

"I'm _twelve._.. But, then again, I come from a world where the age to go to work ranges from ten to thirteen." All four nodded, somewhat pale at the information. "However, with also having a bit of knowledge on Elder Tale, I been pondering on our situation since I been unable to speak."

"I see. So, you know how this happened?" Naotsugu asked, somewhat shocked at the child. But, then again, said "child" was a game master.

"Sadly no. Though with studying up on your world's physics and other sciences to try and figure out things like how I get your internet has helped me at least come up with some theories. None of them have enough support to really be said out loud. At best, the only one I can say is most likely is this world existed before we ended up in our avatars. The fact our new bodies have muscle memory and hints of habits we have from in the game proves this much as if we have ended up in these bodies without such muscle memory... Only people like Naotsugu who used his real height would probably be able to move. Even Shiroe would have more issues as he would have been forced to retrain his current body due to the slight change is too much for the mind and body to link up."

"Seriously?!" Shiroe gasped, shocked.

"Hai. This technique I am using is called Henge no Jutsu. It is actually a basic level ninja technique most ninja learn. It allows the user to change into whatever he or she wants, though practice is needed to get it right and even then keeping the transformation up is hard depending on the situation. This is also true with dealing with different heights. If the person is a lot taller than you, you need to relearn to walk and such for that height before attempting to use it in a mission. I learned that the hard way when I finally got a transformation of my sensei right and stepped forward, only to land flat on my face. If you transform into an inanimate object, it is a lot easier as the inanimate object does not move. Animals are also tough as you have to figure out how to move with four legs instead of two. However, that is why even though it is a low level jutsu, it can become a focal point for some ninja as those really verse in it can literally become whoever or whatever they want. Basically, ideal spies and such." Las Boss explained, adjusting his glasses with a frown.

"However, this also worries me. I was expecting not to get the bonus the player would who be going on the servers for my world since all my characters are grandfathered into the Japanese servers. If you noticed my HP and MP, they have been boosted. Especially my MP which confuses me to no end as there is no reason to boost a players MP four times it originally was."

"Yesh... It's like you broken the game." Naotsugu gave Las Boss a cheap look with seeing the boy's MP. He knew the boy had some hacking skills both as a GM and finding his own accounts hacked by the boy. He was just thankful it was Las Boss who left silly messages and such instead of a mean hacker.

"Not exactly. In real life, I had a large reserve of cat... chakra. Though, I just thought I had around what my sensei's had instead of the normal amount for a kid my age. What I am trying to get at is our faces might not just be the only thing our avatars have been given. Henge is a skill I know in real life, too, so it might not just be me here with the new skills."

"I see. Since the skill was a battle one, it was added to your class. For us, such skills would probably be more sub-class, correct?" Shiroe asked, adjusting his glasses.

"Correct. Some might not get it as their real life skills might not match up enough for it to work to their current class or sub-class. My class is a well-rounded healing class, so Henge would be benefitting for several reasons. Though, it seems all those skills will start out as the lowest, as even though I am not that skilled as a ninja, I had enough experience for it to probably be high Beginner to low Intermediate level. In fact, most of my skills would also fall under sub-class since I had more skills as an artist since I only really got general skills like the Kakuremino no Jutsu and Kawarimi." Las Boss sighed before noticing an evil glint from Heneritta's glasses.

"So, you're a ninja dropout?" Heneritta chuckled, causing the four to sweat. "Come to my little male loli!" Heneritta jumped to hug Las Boss, who only dodged. "Come here!" Heneritta attempted several more times. Each time, Las Boss dodged and both went into a kind of dance to where at the end with Heneritta out of breath in a dance pose with Las Boss match her with his back to her with their opposite hands up in the air and the other arm over their chests

"Bravo!" Maryelle chimed, clapping while Shiroe and Naotsugu just stared at the display oddly.

"Don't take me lightly. Even though I do admit I suck as a ninja, I was one hell of a prankster and even gave Chunin-level ninja a run for their money when try tried to catch me for punishment of my pranks. Also I am at level 90 and have my dexterity, perception, and luck like status of this avatar very high to overcome my weaknesses in defense and HP in the game. Add that all together with the fact it seems my stamina also increased to what I had back in the real world, I can go at this for a while without losing breath like a normal level 90 Druid would probably be." Las Boss chimed, his glasses evilly glowing behind his bangs.

"Dammit! Well, I will just enjoy you from afar till I get my chance!" Heneritta chuckled, sending chills down Las Boss's spine.

"Now you make me glad this has a time limit." Las Boss comically cried, "But, what Naotsugu said earlier was indeed true. Our current situation is not the worst... But, we are also not in the best." All four now looked back at the boy in interest. "Maryelle, I recommend you keep a close eye on your guild mates. I have a feeling things will get worse instead of better for the time being. With so many unknowns and the fact people will realize they are no longer just average humans will most likely cause many issues."

"Huh? What kind of issues?" Maryelle asked, confused, but focused as it involved her guild.

"I have no idea exactly. But, if I remember enough from my history class... A wide range of issues could come into effect. Even when people speak a common language, conflict will always arise." Las Boss adjusted his glasses again, having slipped during the dance.

"Well spoken, Las Boss." Shiroe said, "I agree with Las Boss. We better be prepared for the worse and gather more information. I think we should protect ourselves."

"Correct. From what I see, there are a lot of girls in this guild right?"

Henrietta nodded at Las Boss, Shiroe, and Naotsugu's points. Although battles were restricted in the city zones, there was no telling what might happen. There were also no ways to confirm the battle restrictions were still in effect.

"Also, I think you should recall all the items you put out for sale."

"Hmmm? Market? Why?"

"Ahah, because..."

"Simple. Items will now become very valuable compared to before." Las Boss explained in a matter of act tone, adjusting his glasses as a sign of going into his "Business" mode. "Potions for healing will be a must. So will the ingredients to making healing items and other items that are useful for battle. If you don't act quickly, those items will also sell out in the stores as others realize this fact. Same with food as larger guilds will want to ensure the well being of their own members." Las Boss knew this fact well. Elder Tales had a system that actually mimicked normal economics. As demand for an item went up or the supply was limited, so did the price go up. The same if demand was low or the supply had grown in size, the price would go down. The market here referred to the services provided by NPCs in major cities. Players could deposit their goods with specific NPCs and set a price to sell them. Although the players usually traded among themselves, but if they have any excess crafted products or ingredients, the market was a convenient feature.

"Crescent Moon Alliance should have a lot of resources right? I think the members also deposited a lot of items to sell at the market. Even if it is still early, the price might change drastically, the items might have some new effects or new ways of using them. If you can spare the cash, I think it is better not to sell the items you have on hand." Shiroe added, to better explain what Las Boss said.

"Yeah, understood, you are right."

"Also, we can't check things online anymore." Maryelle and Henrietta nodded their heads seriously.

When Elder Tales was still a game, Las Boss and the rest were in front of a monitor and could surf the net as they played the game, which was the usual way of playing this game. Elder Tales was a complex game that required a lot of knowledge and strategy. Hence online guides were very useful. They did not have all the information, but were godsend with trying to find exact data in Elder Tales. Including maps and notes as to where to stay away from.

"We came this time to exchange information, and information will be important from now on. Everybody remembers that today is the update of the expansion pack right?" Shiroe added.

"The Novasphere Pioneers, correct?"

"Yes, not only new zones, we will also need information... for old zones as well as the city. Right now we can't check online even if we run into any minor problems."

"That's right..."

The five of them then proceeded to draw a map centered around Akiba based on what they still remember. Even though there were tens of thousands of zones in the Japanese server, they also included all the hotel rooms, small ruins and the personal space rented out to players like this guild hall. The 'field zones' including the forest, hills, the desolated suburbs and relics, as well as the relative fewer 'dungeon zones' that included the underground metro or gigantic building structures. But such zones still numbered in the thousands, even Shiroe couldn't be sure he remembered all of them clearly. But Shiroe was still a 8 year veteran player, his knowledge of Elder Tales surpassed other players. Naotsugu was on hiatus for a while, but he still had deep knowledge on the zones in the early eras. Las Boss was a concept artist for the game and actually had a good memory of many areas, though only rough size and data. The three of them compared their recollections with Maryelle and Henrietta and drew a serviceable but imperfect map of how the zones were connected. Writing the zones and linking them with lines, Shiroe's group listed out hundreds of zone-names surrounding Akiba zone. Although they didn't know the necessity of investigating all the zones, but this was better than nothing.

"Thank you Shiroe, Las Boss, and Naotsugu."

"I have been in your care all this while after all."

"This is nothing to worry about."

"You have been a big help, I know Shiroe is a good kid. So is the silent Las Boss." Maryelle gave Shiroe a smile like a sunflower as she said this, ignoring the glare from Las Boss.

'Maryelle's smile...may keep the wrath away, I still hate being silent!' Las Boss thought, annoyed the fact the instant his henge ended, his voice would be gone again.

"I can't leave Maryelle alone after all." Although Shiroe thought he had done his best, but his words were unable to express his feelings. Las Boss noticed the habit with Shiroe, though guess it was due to both of them being introverts.

"What? Even Shiroe is saying this, I am finished. I am fated to be a brainless dumb woman, what should I do Henrietta?"

"Start by restraining your playful nature?" Shiroe averted his gaze in a hurry from Maryelle's breasts.

"Want to touch my breasts? Do you want to?" Maryelle teased while pushing her breasts forward, only to pout at being ignored. "What about you, Naotsugu?" Maryelle tried tempting Naotsugu after seeing Shiroe ignore her. Naotsugu knocked her head without a word. "You-you hit me?" Shiroe thought Maryelle's actions was a way for her to conceal her embarrassment, but Naotsugu seemed to be doing the same thing in hindsight. It was interesting to see Naotsugu stop her.

"Don't you have the ability to reflect on your actions, you panties girl!"

"Don't say panties! And what is with you, Naotsugu? Are my breasts so bad? Are you treating me like a grandma?"

"I don't know for sure, but you are not at grandma level yet. We should be about the same age right?" Naotsugu whispered his birth year to Henrietta who nodded her head.

"Maryelle is three years older than you."

"So I am at the grandma level after all... an inferior product left on the shelf! That's why Naotsugu is turning into a bad boy and acting rebellious against me? My poor breasts, already treated like wrinkled puddings..." Maryelle swung her legs on the couch to express her dissatisfaction.

'Yesh... What is with women and old age?' Las Boss thought, remember how even girls talked about it much. However, Naotsugu patted her head seeing Maryelle throwing a tantrum. Although it looked like someone soothing a big dog, but Maryelle was starting to calm down.

"It is about time to go, we have stayed quite a while... We will observe the situation outside some more." After making his intent known to the disgruntled Maryelle and Henrietta who had a serious face, Shiroe stood up.

"Yeah, we should go... Sorry for intruding!" Naotsugu also got up. Las Boss was ready to go, wanting to get away from Heneritta in case she tried a fast one. He already had to deal with Maryelle's hugging nature... Now he has two to deal with. However, it had been half a day since this tragedy happened, some people might have pulled themselves together and battled with monsters once or twice. He wanted to know what is going on. The three bid farewell to the two still sitting on the couch.

"I apologize for my poor hospitality." Maryelle said politely as she stopped swinging her legs and stood up and said while looking straight at Shiroe, Las Boss, and Naotsugu, "Shiroe, Las Boss, and Naotsugu... It might not be the right time to say this, but would you consider for your own convenience... Would you like to join us... That is to join the Crescent Moon Alliance?" Maryelle said hesitantly, unlike her in her normal cheerful nature. "It is nothing important, I know that you don't feel comfortable staying in a guild, Shiroe and Las Boss, but in the current state of affairs, I think it would be helpful to join a guild. I think Naotsugu is also not in a guild... So I want to try asking." Her troubled expression evolved into a face that wanted to convince them. From her voice, she didn't want to strengthen her guild by making use of Shiroe, Las Boss, and Naotsugu, but out of her pure kindness.

"Our guild is very relaxed and won't tie you down alright? We won't do anything that irritates Shiroe. The young ones here also challenged dungeons together with Shiroe before right? Like the underground of Shinshuku or Nakasu commercial building. I don't know why Shiroe has not joined any guild yet, but I feel that our Crescent Moon Alliance... is a comfortable place to reside in. What do both of you think...?" Maryelle was not sure how to interpret Shiroe's silence and added these words while gesturing with her hands. Her smooth green hair swaying on her white healer robes, it looked like her way of showing concern in Shiroe's eyes.

"..." Naotsugu looked at Shiroe in silence. His eyes were saying 'it is up to you'. To stay here or continue to roam freely, that was up to Shiroe to decide. Naotsugu expressed this to Shiroe. Las Boss noticed it all in his eyes. Shiroe then looked at Las Boss who just gave a shrug. He did not like guilds, but he rather join a guild Shiroe joined due to he can at least trust Shiroe. Even Naotsugu did not have his full trust.

"Sorry Maryelle, but I can't yet," Shiroe replied, slightly depressed. Las Boss probably knew the reasons for both the reaction and mood.

"So that's how it is... Yeah, it can't be helped then." Maryelle had an expression of regret for an instance but smiled as usual straight after. Her smile was as cheerful as a sunflower, giving Las Boss a sensation of salvation. Even though her body was of one of the many models of elder Tales, Maryelle's smile belonged to Maryelle alone, no one else could emulate her. It was not a smile the game engine could recreate anyway. "Just tell us if you need anything, we will be happy to help."

"That's right, just find me if you need a reliable guardian."

"Yeah. Shiroe, Naotsugu, Las Boss, thank you both. Contact me if you need anything as well." Las Boss waved goodbye, only hoping nothing bad happened to them. Even though he still had trusting issues and hated their antics of trying to hug him, Maryelle and her guild was not bad in his opinion.

* * *

Endnote: Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Review and let me know if it works better than the last one.


End file.
